Thank God I'm Forgiven! What's that mean to you? Thank God and build that gratitude list this morning!

Pray this earnestly today: O, O God Forgive Us https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-lSe4earII

Good Morning Forgiven Much, Repentant, Pruned, Obedient to the Living Word, Purified, Very Loved Children of God! O, O God forgive us! Cleanse us! Purify us! Revive us! Teach us! Prepare us! Make us usable! Use us! All for Your glory and honor! Amen! When God was ready to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land, He commanded Joshua to call the people to a season of preparation and purification. May we become a purified people, ready to follow God into our promised land and leading the next generations by our example! Purify My Heart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB_gCVjoNpI Please Lord! Come!

I had no idea where God would lead me this morning as I humbled myself before Him and asked Him to write this blog. Our devotionals speak about the importance of spending a sanctifying, purifying time with Him in the Living Word. Jesus is God's Living Word and the Bible is His instructions for us and called the Living Word because it is living and active and cuts to bone and marrow, directs, corrects, guides and does not come back void when spoken. We need to open our Bibles and spend time in them and even memorize passages to be recalled when needed later. Spend some time in the Word and with God as you prayerfully, humbly open your Bible today and through our devotionals and their passages. God is speaking always and especially as we open His Living Word! Be still. Listen and receive. Pray and release. Trust, obey and follow. And end with the Harvest Prayer's revival blog at the end. God is on the move and He is calling a prepared and available people to service and usefulness. Is that you? Is that our church? We are on our way but there is so much more ahead. Prepare your hearts and minds. Ask for wisdom, discernment and willing hands and feet and persevering, active faith. God has great plans for you and us! Daylight's burning! Are you ready and available?

May God's Word come alive in and through you with power and authority. May His Love protect and lead you. May you stay connected to The Vine, Jesus, and grow from pruning to massive fruit production--good and lasting fruit! May God lead you to seek Him more, become more of the person you are created to be and doing more of what You were created to do in the year ahead. And may He light revival fires through the next generations and position us to walk with them and disciple them with great and living faith! May we become a dynamic movement of God with a burning passion for Him and His ways and a missionary zeal to reach and disciple the lost. Yes, God is on the move! Hallelujah and He is using sinners like us as His vessels! May we be purified and ready! Come Jesus come! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu4VV54ZcFo

Charles Stanley:

 

ODB

God’s Protective Love Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. Matthew 7:15 READ Matthew 7:13–23 LISTEN ONLINE One summer night, the birds near our home suddenly erupted into chaotic cawing. The squawking intensified as the songbirds sent piercing calls from the trees. We finally realized why. As the sun set, a large hawk swooped from a treetop, sending the birds scattering in a screeching frenzy, sounding the alarm as they flew from danger. In our lives, spiritual warnings can be heard throughout Scripture—cautions against false teachings, for example. We may doubt that’s what we’re hearing. Because of His love for us, however, our heavenly Father provides the clarity of Scripture to make such spiritual dangers plain to us. Jesus taught, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” (Matthew 7:15). He continued, “By their fruit you will recognize them. . . . Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.” Then He warned us, “By their fruit you will recognize them” (vv. 16–17, 20). “The prudent see danger and take refuge,” Proverbs 22:3 reminds us, “but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.” Embedded in such warnings is God’s protective love, revealed in His words to us. As the birds warned each other of physical danger, may we heed the Bible’s warnings to fly from spiritual danger and into God’s arms of refuge. By Patricia Raybon REFLECT & PRAY What spiritual warning has been speaking to your heart? How has Scripture confirmed a warning to you? The Scriptures warn with love, dear God, and we thank You. May we heed those words today.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT In Matthew 7, Jesus teaches His disciples using a series of comparisons: narrow and wide gates (vv. 13-14), true and false prophets (vv. 15-20), true and false disciples (vv. 21-23), and wise and foolish builders (vv. 24-27). Craig Blomberg notes: “Jesus makes plain that there are ultimately only two categories of people in the world, despite the endless gradations we might otherwise perceive.” The contrast that Christ presents to His hearers seems at first to be a commonsense decision. Not many people would willingly choose to be foolish. However, in the explanation of the final contrast, Jesus gives a clear picture of why some might be foolish and others wise. Those who are true and wise are those who listen to and obey His words (v. 24). JR Hudberg

UR: A Fruitful Vine

Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” - John 15:5 (NIV)

One sunny morning I woke up to the sounds of birds chirping. I looked out my window and saw that it was the long tendrils of my passion fruit plant that had attracted the birds. I recalled Jesus’ words in John 15:5 and meditated on the verse with curiosity, knowing that the Holy Spirit had brought it to my mind to reveal something to me.

I realized that the image of the vine in John 15:5 and my passion fruit plant have something in common — they both have winding, clinging branches that bear fruit. They don’t have trunks; they cling to nearby objects for support, and their branches grow out of the vine. In John 15:5, Jesus was making it clear to us that he supplies our needs and makes it possible for us to flourish.

In order to thrive and bear fruit, climbing plants depend on a strong central vine and require occasional pruning. Jesus is our true vine, and when we remain connected to him, we can bear much fruit. All we need to do is receive and rest in Jesus’ love. Just as a plant’s nutrients flow from the vine to its branches, God’s divine love flows from Christ to us.

TODAY'S PRAYER

Dear Lord, as we cling to you, restore our peace and hope and remind us how much you love us. Amen.TWFYT:

 

Harvest Prayer

January 19, 2024 - Praying for Revival (Day 19): Acts of God in the Next Generation

Several years ago, I spent a season in prayer. The Holy Spirit spoke to me clearly, saying, “Luke, I want you to be very careful because your generation is about to reap a harvest that it did not sow. So, stay extremely humble and give honor to those who have labored for and sown the harvest that you will reap.” I believe the unprecedented harvest we are getting ready to reap in America—and that we are already seeing—is the result of fathers and mothers who have labored, toiled, wept, and prayed for God to move. The miraculous fruit, the rare spiritual hunger, and the powerful moves of the Holy Spirit we are seeing among Gen Z are a direct result of the prayers of the generations that preceded us. It is a multigenerational work.  This mixture of the prayers and labors of fathers and mothers—and the radical faith and actions of the upcoming generation—make for an explosive combination. In the days ahead, my sense is that the Lord’s call to Gen Z is one of wholehearted consecration—a consecration to holy lives and to God’s mission. King of kings and Lord of lords, I praise God for the generations that have gone before me in prayer and faith – those spiritual mothers and fathers who have labored, wept, and interceded for You to move in power. Stir my heart to a deeper level of prayer, call Your Church to be renewed in a fresh dedication to holiness and consecration to God, and fill this next generation with joy and passion for Jesus. Revive Your Church and pour out spiritual awakening in this nation so that the gospel reaches to the ends of the earth! Pr a y e r Po i n t s: • Praise God for the generations that have gone before you in prayer and faith—and how you are the recipient of those prayers. • Pray that God will include you as the mothers and fathers of faith who have labored, wept, and prayed for a great move of God. Ask the Spirit to stir your heart to greater intercession. • Pray for the Church to be renewed in dedication to holiness and consecration to God. • Pray for radical, audacious faith to fill this next generation with joy and passion for Jesus. • Pray for a fresh move of revival in the Church and spiritual awakening in this nation—so that the gospel reaches to the ends of the earth. --Adapted from Day 19 by Luke LeFevre: Do It Again, Lord (30 Days of Hope-Filled Prayer for Revival)  compiled and edited by Carol Madison. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount on the book.