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Tuesday, March 26 2024
Good Morning Friends in Christ--Brothers and Sisters in the Lord! I am so thankful for you and our relationships and even our co-laboring! God has sure blessed us and our Body! Yesterday, we received 6 new members who are already serving with us. PTL! There are some others already waiting to join when we do it again at the end of April. We fellowshipped and connected to 70 during brunch after worship too! What a great day of food, fun, fellowship and worship! Thanks to all who cooked, served, worshiped, and joined us! Invite some friends to Resurrection Sunday worship and communion this Sunday! We are gathered by God together and sent to love like Jesus together for such a time as this! PTL! He has great plans for us and will continue to guide and provide as we continue to walk and grow in faith into our fuller potential in Christ! PTL and keep praying into that! God is on the move! Hallelujah! Jesus has invited and commanded us to "Follow Me". Continue to do so, by His grace, always! Amen!
This morning, God took me on two tracks that sort of thread together from our devotionals and my quiet time. God has a Word for some of you today, maybe all of us! Yesterday we discussed continuing to accept Jesus' invite and follow His command to "Follow Me" even through the most confusing and hardest of times. Can we even imagine what it was like for the thick headed, slow learning disciples (as Jesus described them) during this week before the resurrection? Many of us have been through or are traveling through some very hard and confusing times as well. What's it like to trust God one step, one baby step, maybe one crawl, at a time in faith as we choose to continue to follow Jesus always? Maybe you can't even move right now as all the wind in your sails is gone and all the breath sucked out of you in despair and grief? Be still and know is all I have to offer you right now. I am here if you need someone to sit with you awhile and I am praying. Who might God be sending you to strengthen and walk with--maybe carry a few steps in prayer and help? Jesus prayed for Peter because Satan wanted to sift him and the others and did so. Jesus told Peter that He prayed for him and for when he came back to faith to strengthen his brothers. Peter ran away after denying Jesus, but came back, gathered his brothers and was restored by Jesus and then helped his brothers to walk by faith again. We can do that too, even after the most horrible failures. BUT, we need to get out of our heads, out of what the world is telling us, tell Satan to get lost, still ourselves, return to God and fill our minds with His Word and wisdom. Then you need to be open to receive His restoration. And we will probably need to accept some strengthen help of some of our brothers and sisters. Jesus is standing on the shore with open arms calling to you to come.
I began my quiet time with a new study I am doing from season one of the Chosen. WOW! Get used to different for sure! Check out this song from yesterday. The Jesus Way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfm5_CVOKLs
Will you trust and follow always and choose to walk in the Jesus way always? Talk to God about that! Worship in the storms. Get out those gratitude lists, refocus and choose well. I'm praying for you, my friends. I'm here if you need to talk.
The Chosen season one begins with Mary Magdalene being delivered from demons processing her. Jesus calls her, as He does with you, by name. He knows you and everything about you. He formed you in the womb. He is ready to deliver you. Come! They use Isaiah 43 in a flashback to Mary's childhood as her dad teaches and loves on her before he suddenly dies while she's a little girl. She clung to that verse, even through all the wondering and wandering from God. Jesus spoke it over her. Is He speaking this to your heart today? From Isiah 43: "Thus says the Lord your God.
He who created you...
He who formed you...
'Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name,
you are mine...
I will be with you...
For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, Your Savior." I say, AMEN!
Meditate on this. Memorize it! This is your true identity in Christ! Redeemed, restored, cared for, loved created child of God! You belong to God! He knows you and calls you by name. He is making a way to your deliverance. You are precious to Him and you matter. Be still and know! Fear not! Come to Him right now! He's there! Can you sense His loving presence? Can you feel His loving, healing, delivering embrace?
Turn off the noise around you and in your head. Tell Satan to beat it. Listen for that whisper..."Come all you who are weary and I will give rest to your souls. Follow Me." Amen!
Who is this man, Jesus to you? Your answer changes everything! Check out Charles Stanly's and The Word for You Today devos speaking into this. God forgives and restores. Walk by faith always! And then contemplate Our Daily Bread and Upper Room devos showing a way to help get out of the pit...serving, loving like God, using your gifts, just as you are, where you are. God loves you so much you cannot measure how much. He is with you always, loving on you and wanting to take your hand in restoration and wants to help you. Will you trust and follow always?
"Thus says the Lord your God.
He who created you...
He who formed you...
'Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name,
you are mine...
I will be with you...
For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, Your Savior." I say,
CS:
TWFYT: 
ODB:
Love God by Loving Others
Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. Matthew 25:40
READ Matthew 25:31–40
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The Alba family experienced the rare occurrence of birthing two sets of identical twins just thirteen months apart. How did they juggle their parental responsibilities as well as their jobs? Their community of friends and family stepped in. Grandparents on both sides took a set of twins during the day so the parents could work and pay for health insurance. One company gave a year’s supply of diapers. The couple’s coworkers donated their personal sick days. “We couldn’t have done it without our community,” they agreed. In fact, during a live interview, the cohost removed her mic and ran after one renegade toddler, continuing the communal investment!
In Matthew 25:31–46, Jesus tells a parable to make the point that when we serve others, we serve God. After listing acts of service, including providing food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, lodging for the homeless, clothes for the naked, and healing for the sick (vv. 35–36), Jesus concludes, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (v. 40).
Imagining Jesus as the ultimate recipient of our kindness is true motivation to serve in our neighborhoods, families, churches, and world. When He prompts us to sacrificially invest in the needs of others, we serve Him. When we love others, we love God.
By Elisa Morgan
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How might you serve Jesus in your community today? How can you love God by loving others in your path?
Loving God, please open my eyes to the needs of others around me so I can help meet them and love You better.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
In the parable typically referred to as “the sheep and the goats,” Jesus describes separating people when He returns as one would separate “the sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25:32). The two groups are separated based on their care of others. The group identified as “righteous” (v. 37) and the other group both address Jesus as “Lord” (vv. 37, 44). This would have reminded hearers of Christ’s words in Matthew 7:21—that “not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
Monica La Rose |
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UR: Using Your Gifts
In Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity. - Acts 9:36 (NRSVUE)
When my mother passed away, I inherited her sewing basket, filled to the brim with thread, needles, and every conceivable sewing accessory. I was pleased to have this keepsake, but I cannot sew a stitch! I have always admired individuals who possess sewing skills, those like Dorcas, whose story of generosity is recorded in Acts.
Dorcas was not only talented at sewing, but she unselfishly shared the garments she made with friends. In fact, Dorcas was so admired for her generosity that the apostle Peter immediately left the nearby city where he was ministering to come to Dorcas’s house when he heard that she had died. There several widows proudly showed Peter the clothing Dorcas had sewn for them. When Peter brought Dorcas back to life, Acts records that many people came to believe in the Lord.
I cannot help but believe that many came to know Jesus as Savior through the gift of Dorcas’s sewing. While I am not a seamstress, I have other gifts I can use to share the love of Christ. We all have gifts that we can use to help others to know Jesus.
TODAY'S PRAYER
Dear Lord, help us to use our gifts to do good and to help those in need. Amen.
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