Did you turn your clocks ahead? See at 10 am DST! Come and worship! Pray for our worship time as we continue to discuss what Church is and our parts in God's Body. Note: new member installation will be in two weeks on Palm Sun. If you are interested in joining our church (all are welcome) talk to Sarah or me. That's the day of our brunch after worship too! Sign up today!
Good Morning Bright-Eyed and Bushy-Tailed Worshipers! Well, maybe some of us have to pronounce that, choose that, and pray into that on this spring-ahead Sun. But God knows, carries us and wants us to gather and worship! Rise and shine and give God the Glory! This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it! It is also the day of rest and I'm sure some of us will be napping after church today. I was up at 4 so maybe a nap before church for me? I'm praying for you and for the Holy Spirit to keep things lively during our worship time.
What an awesome morning with the Lord I had today! As always, He stirs me awake with thoughts and praises of Him and continues as I sit at His feet in my prayer closet and chew on His Word and listen to His still small voice. I'm always blessed by my time with the Lord! If you don't set aside some tome with the Lord, I urge you to do so. Start small, but start. Open His Word prayerfully. Sit with some devotionals and listen. There is no better way to start your day (or end it) then with time with God! The Pause that truly refreshes! Check out the Harvest prayer blog at the bottom speaking into this quality time with God--time well spent!
There are sorta two threads thru our devotionals today, yet, they sorta tie together too. Check them out below. Do you see the threads? How is the Holy Spirit threading them to you and your situation? What's God saying to you? Who might you process that with? And remember, we are all masterpieces of God and He is quilting us together for His purposes and glory. Amen! How might that be revealed in His teaching to you today? Spring is springing and new life is poking through the ground and budding. We can see it outside. Are you seeing it in our Body as well? Behold and worship! God is restoring the earth and us! PTL! We have stood firm through the winter. We are practicing for the hard times to come too. Keep refocusing with praise and gratitude. God is at work always and He is with us. Trust and follow well! Let the Holy Spirit fill your hearts and minds this morning and lead you into all truth and help you pray too. He is in you, ready and waiting--even in your weariness! Rejoice! Be still and know! God never sleeps! He is on the move! And He has some great custom plans for you and that can include some rest too! See you soon! Shalom!
Upper Room: Handmade Gift
This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. - Psalm 118:24 (KJV)
Have you ever been given something made by hand? Perhaps someone gifted you a meal from their kitchen, a flower arrangement from their garden, or a one-of-a-kind craft. Similarly, each day
is a gift from our Creator that we can receive with gladness.
Sometimes the person receiving the gift may not always understand the time and effort required to make a handmade gift. And we may not feel like rejoicing each and every day when we are facing trials or feeling ill. But before my feet hit the floor in the morning, I practice reciting this verse: “This is the day the Lord has made, and I will rejoice and be glad in it!”
Each morning I choose to be thankful and pray that my presence will be a reflection of the light of our Creator, the maker of heaven and earth. Let us give thanks for God’s gift of today and enter each day with a spirit of rejoicing.
TODAY'S PRAYER
Creator of heaven and earth, help us to know you and to recognize the works of your hands. We will rejoice and be glad, giving thanks for the gift of each day. Amen. Our Daily Bread:
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My three-year old son, Xavier, squeezed my hand as we entered the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. Pointing to a life-size sculpture of a humpback whale suspended from the ceiling, he said, “Enormous!” His wide-eyed joy continued as we explored each exhibit. We laughed as the otters splish-splashed during feeding time. We stood in silence in front of a large glass aquarium window, mesmerized by the golden-brown jellyfish dancing in the electric blue water. “God made every creature in the ocean,” I said, “just like He made you and me.” Xavier whispered, “Wow.”
In Psalm 104, the psalmist acknowledged God’s abounding creation and sang, “In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures” (v. 24). He declared, “There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number—living things both large and small” (v. 25). He proclaimed God’s generous and satisfying provision for all He created (vv. 27–28). He also affirmed that God has determined the days of each one’s existence (vv. 29–30).
We can join the psalmist in singing this declaration of devotion: “I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live” (v. 33). Every creature that exists, from the big to the small, can lead us to praise because God made them all.
By Xochitl Dixon
REFLECT & PRAY
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When has exploring the wonderful world God made led you to praise Him? How has He used His creation to deepen your faith in His power and provision?
All-powerful Creator and Sustainer of all, You’re so worthy of all my praise!
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Psalm 104:3-30 parallels the creation account in Genesis; for instance, verses 25-26 mirror Genesis 1:20-28 and verses 27-30 pair with Genesis 1:29-31. Psalm 104:32, however, evokes the scene not at creation but when Israel gathered as “the Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai” (Exodus 19:20). Having recounted God’s works of creation, the psalmist praises His awesome power: “He who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke” (Psalm 104:32). This matches Exodus 19:18: “The smoke billowed up from [Sinai] like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently.”
Tim Gustafson |
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The Word for You Today:
Charles Stanley:
Harvest Blog:
March 10 - Leave Space for God to Speak
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Remember that a major part of prayer is listening for God to speak. We need not stress out about filling time with words when we pray (“I want to pray for thirty minutes so I’d better have enough things to talk about”). Reserve space for listening. Perhaps God will speak as you meditate on a verse of Scripture or as you wrestle over what to do in a particular situation. Maybe a thought will come to you while pausing in your prayers, and you will feel peace settling over you.
I pause often when I pray—to leave space for God to speak. Because my longest time of prayer is early in the morning, I have even started to drift off to sleep as I paused. At first, I stressed out about that and chided myself for being so weak. But then I realized I shouldn’t sweat it. Early Christian fathers described that as “spiritual drowsiness” and felt it was a good thing.
An important principle that keeps us from struggling in prayer is knowing that we can’t get it wrong, because the Holy Spirit prays what we should be praying for. “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will” (Romans 8:26-27).
I don’t believe this verse teaches that we need never pray because the Holy Spirit is praying for us. Rather, I believe it means that the Holy Spirit takes our feeble attempts to pray, our bumbling words, our incoherent and wandering thoughts, and turns them into powerful prayer.
Holy Spirit, how grateful I am for Your participation in the process of prayer! When I don’t know what to say or how to say what my heart wants to express, You are there to interpret and to complete! If I am weary, or fall asleep in prayer, keep my heart in perfect peace, knowing that You are always awake! You know the mind of the Father when I can’t discern how to pray. Help me to trust that You will guide my thoughts into the path of God’s desires rather than my own. Help me to be a better listener in prayer so that I can clearly hear answers to questions I have asked or to discern the Father’s will. Strengthen my spiritual hearing so that I am able to distinguish the still, small voice that brings peace and reassurance of God’s great love.
--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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| 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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My Prayer Starters:
LISTEN ONLINE
