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Friday, May 10 2024
Mark your calendar: Sun. June 9th Church Picnic. Details to follow? Are you part of the picnic team? Check with Sarah if interested!
Don't Forget! Last Brunch of the season this Sunday after worship (It's an everyones birthday celebration with picnic food) Who ya bringin'?
Good Morning Abiding, Empowered, Followers of Jesus! What does it actually mean to be a follower of Jesus? Well, you follow Him! Following well starts when we die to self and surrender to Him and receive Jesus as both our Lord and Savior. We are forgiven and our names are written in the Book of Life. We are given the Holy Spirit as a seal for this guarantee and He gives us gifts and help to understand and follow Jesus to His plans for us and His best. Our steps are informed, as are our prayers, as we abide in Christ. That's sitting at His feet talking and receiving, listening and planning, resting and dwelling in His presence. And then we are empowered and sent to follow Jesus for whatever He has for us that day. We are His prepared and sent ones to go live and love like Jesus, make disciples and grow into our created and new nature and to do what we are created to do. How cool is all that! Meditate on that, listen and follow well today. God has perfect plans just for you! Rejoice! Praise! Abide! Pray! And go! And that going is best done with others. We are made to encourage, be encouraged and serve with others. Talk to God about all of that today and follow from your abiding well! Amen! You know the power source and He lives in you. You are yoked to Him. He is with you and leading you and always working all things together for good. Amen!
Spend some time with our devos below and be determined to process and follow well with each step of faith today. I'm praying for you! What's God saying to you? What will you do about it? Who are you partnering with?
Shalom!
Harvest Prayer:
April 25 - Living in Two Worlds
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“Your kingdom come, Your will be done in earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
Every follower of Christ lives in two worlds, whether they realize it or not. Once we were aligned only to the material world (what we could see, feel, taste, touch, and hear). Now, we can see both material and spiritual. Before Christ, we were “dead in our trespasses and sin” and walked “according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air.” But now, we have been transferred from the “kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear Son!”
Because of this real-time, dual citizenship, we have the ability to see and hear from God through His Word and prayer unlike those without Christ. We can see what God is doing in heaven and align ourselves with His will. Paul tells us what this advantage brings and where we should fix our gaze in prayer.
Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory (Colossians 3:1-4).
Do you understand what this means? You have two residences—one on earth and one in heaven—and you can move from one to the other. As we pray, we are listening to God, seeing what He desires and then praying His kingdom and will down to earth.
Jesus showed us how this works when He chose to operate as a man on earth for 33 years. He listened to the Father in prayer and then did only what God-initiated. This is why His earthly life was so powerfully effective. If we will follow His example, our lives can be too.
Creator and King, I’m in awe that You have allowed me to participate in the work of heaven through prayer while I am living on earth! Help me to always keep my eyes and my heart fixed on things above and not on circumstances and issues here on earth so that I might give myself to prayer that aligns only with Your desires, purposes and plans. Give me ears to hear what You want to say to me, and may I always be obedient to everything You call me to do!
---Adapted from Simply Prayer by Bill Elliff. 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 great mercy.
- Thank God for forgiving you and bringing you back after failure and rebellion (Zech. 8:7-8).
- Confess times of presuming on his patience and mercy.
- Commit yourself to consistent obedience from a heart of gratitude for God’s forgiveness.
- Ask him to forgive your debts as you have forgiven your debtors, and to lead you not into temptation but to deliver you from evil.
- Pray that the unsaved in your network of relationships will be won to the Prince of Peace by seeing fallen Christians restored. Ask God to show them his healing through the mending of your own life.
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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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CS:
ODB:
My friend Raleigh is sprinting toward his eighty-fifth birthday! Since my first conversation with him more than thirty-five years ago, he’s been a source of inspiration. When he recently mentioned that since retiring he’d completed a book manuscript and started another ministry initiative—I was intrigued but not surprised.
At eighty-five, Caleb in the Bible wasn’t ready to stop either. His faith and devotion to God had sustained him through decades of wilderness living and wars to secure the inheritance God had promised Israel. He said, “I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then” (Joshua 14:11). By what means would he conquer? Caleb declared that by “the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said” (v. 12).
Regardless of age, stage in life, or circumstances, God will help all who wholeheartedly trust Him. In Jesus, our Savior who helps us, God was made visible. The Gospel books inspire faith in God through what we see in Christ. He demonstrated God’s care and compassion for all who looked to Him for help. As the writer of Hebrews acknowledged, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid” (Hebrews 13:6). Young or old, weak or strong, bound or free, sprinting or limping—what’s keeping us from asking for His help today?
By Arthur Jackson
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Who has inspired your faith in God? How do you see God as your source of help in all things?
Almighty God, please help me to see You as my source of help in all circumstances.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Caleb was one of the twelve spies Moses sent to explore Canaan. Based on the report of ten of the spies, the Israelites concluded that they couldn’t conquer the land (Numbers 13-14). Caleb challenged their lack of faith (13:30), and God took note of his faithfulness (Deuteronomy 1:34-36). Caleb is consistently described as one who “followed the Lord wholeheartedly” (v. 36; see Numbers 14:24; 32:12; Joshua 14:8, 9, 14). Caleb and Joshua were the only two living octogenarians who entered the promised land. Because of their unbelief, the rest of their generation aged twenty and above had all died in the desert (Numbers 14:29-30). Even Moses wasn’t permitted to enter Canaan (Deuteronomy 3:23-27).
K. T. Sim |
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UR: Guiding Light
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. - John 16:33 (NIV)
Watching the sunrise from my balcony is something I always await with enthusiasm. One day I was disappointed because there were many dark, thick clouds in the sky. I thought it would certainly begin to rain soon, but slowly the dark clouds turned red. As time passed, the clouds began to dissipate until finally the sun shone brightly. Hardly believing what I had just seen, I realized that like the light of the sun overcoming the dark clouds that morning, God is greater than all my problems.
Sometimes life feels gloomy and we just live day by day without a clear sense of purpose. However, when we trust in Jesus, he is the light that guides our way; with his strength we do not carry our burdens alone. Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit to direct our steps so that we can always move forward with hope.
TODAY'S PRAYER
Triune God, life is full of uncertainty, yet we know we can rely on you. Comfort us during hard times, and help us to look forward in hope to the promise of salvation. Amen.
TWFYT:
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