Good Morning Loving, Obedient, Connected, World Changing Co-Laborers! Pronounce this in faith over you and our Body. If they all don't seem to be quite true for you, they can be. Remember we are a work in process and progress as we work on Become More in '24 and more like Jesus. This salutation comes directly from the titles of our devotionals for today (below). They can be truths to put on and released in prayer over yourself, our body, others and even our leaders. Be confident in this, living these out are part of God's plan for you and us and are attainable as we lay aside our own agendas and desires and even old nature and step into God's better, greater things. Still yourself at His feet today and ask Him to show you what needs purging, refining, correcting and what is good in you already to be thankful for and working on. He does really have some great plans for you and us to discover and bring to life. That starts with prayer and carries through in actions. And remember the importance of being a co-laborer! Who are your teammates? Pray for some and to be one that is loving, obedient, connected to God and others, changing the world through prayer and actions, and partnering with some close teammates to spur on to the good works God has planned for you for such a time as this. Amen! Encourage and be encouraged as God sees and molds you in love. Chose to sit at His feet, receive His direction, put on His armor and custom-fit-for-you easy yoke in prayer, and follow Jesus to His best for you and others today as you do your part to change the world. Amen!

I've almost completed my homebound communion visits. My heart breaks for these our friends. They are lonely, going through many trials and hardships and in need of connection to others, prayers and encouragement. pray for them. Ask God how to bless them. reach out and love someone today that is not able to join us in worship but co-laboring prayers of ours. Maybe there ate some needs God has for you to meet? maybe some love to share. Seek Him and go bless! Amen! I'm off to the cardiologist followed by a busy 12 hour day at church and in ministry. Pray for me as God awoke me at 3 am today. he spoke to my heart and I hope yours. I'm trusting Him to carry and use me well. Amen!

Here are our devotionals for today. What's God saying to you? What will you do about it? many blessings await as we bring His will alive in prayer and action! Rejoice!

UR: Love Is Everything

If I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. - 1 Corinthians 13:2 (NRSVUE)

My brothers and I thanked God when our mother could safely return home following an illness during her vacation abroad. However, we then quarreled about who would accompany her to her follow-up medical treatments since we were all busy. Finally, I agreed to take her because I realized my mother needed me. I tried not to complain; I wanted to show God’s love through my actions. And God blessed me with joy and peace.

We may say that we love the Lord, but many times our words and deeds do not reflect our faith. It is easy to say that we don’t have time, then go about our busy routines without caring for those in need. When we close our eyes to the people around us, we distance ourselves from God. God is love, and as followers of God, love should be at the forefront of everything we do. In this way, our lives will shine in the world.

As children of God, let’s always clothe ourselves with God’s love. In doing so, we will become less self-centered, and the One who lives within us can use us to reach people who are suffering or have lost hope. This is how we can glorify the Lord.

TODAY'S PRAYER

Dear God, thank you for your love that we experience every day. Help us to spread your love to others so they will see your light in the darkness. Amen.CS:

 

TWFYT:

 

ODB:

Learning from Each Other I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. Ruth 2:11 READ Ruth 2:11-12; 3:1-6 LISTEN ONLINE Years before Zoom was an accessible communication tool, a friend asked me to join her on a video call to discuss a project. Through the tone of my emails, she could tell I was baffled, so she suggested I find a teenager to help me figure out how to set up a video call. Her suggestion points to the value of intergenerational relationships. It’s something observed in Ruth and Naomi’s story. Ruth is often celebrated for being a loyal daughter-in-law, deciding to leave her land to accompany Naomi back to Bethlehem (Ruth 1:16-17). When they arrived in the town, the younger woman said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain [for us]” (2:2). She helped the older woman, who then helped the younger woman marry Boaz. Naomi’s advice for Ruth prompted Boaz to take action in purchasing her deceased in-laws’ property and to take her “as [his] wife” (4:9-10). We certainly respect the advice of those who share their seasoned wisdom with younger generations. But Ruth and Naomi remind us that the exchange can go both ways. There’s something to be learned from those younger than us as well as those who are older. Let’s seek to develop loving and loyal intergenerational relationships. It will bless us and others and help us learn something we don’t know. By Katara Patton REFLECT & PRAY What have you learned from someone younger? How might you reach out to someone of another generation today? Dear God, thank You for the wisdom found in the young and in the old. Teach me to value intergenerational exchanges.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT Boaz, Naomi’s relative (Ruth 2:1), noticed Ruth’s presence in his fields, inquired about her, and offered her protection (vv. 5-9). He praised her for her devotion to Naomi (2:11) and noted how she’d taken refuge under God’s wings (v. 12). In Psalm 91, using a similar metaphor of a chick under the wings of its mother, the psalmist celebrates the security and safety found in God: “The Lord . . . alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. . . . He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings” (vv. 2, 4 nlt). This endearing picture of God protecting those who take refuge in Him is also found in Psalms 17:8; 36:7; 57:1; 61:4; 63:7. K. T. Sim

Harvest

June 26 - Are You a World Changer? We need to understand the truth of God’s Word that is clearly apparent from the Old Testament through the New Testament, where Jesus is spending His time as an intercessor: there is nothing more powerful in the kingdom of God than intercessory prayer. God is calling His people to pray. All Christians are exhorted to pray for others and to watch God work in astonishing, astounding ways. Some people are better at it than others. There are some people whose main spiritual gift is intercession. But we are all called to be intercessors and to make a difference in the world through intercessory prayer.   Most of us do not look at ourselves as “world-changers.” We do not see ourselves as having the power or influence to change the direction of nations. As Christians, however, we affirm the power of God to impact the nations. That power is released through the prayers of people just like you and me. Would you make a commitment today to change your world? Take a step in prayer. Begin to pray more for the people around you, as well as for world leaders and the flow of world events. Bring the amazing power of God to bear upon this world and see what our awesome God will do!   Father, today I affirm Your power to impact the nations through my prayers! Help me to listen carefully to the people and nations You place as a burden upon my heart, and help me to be faithful to respond quickly to intercede! Lord, it amazes me that my prayers, and the prayers of my family and church, can bring change to people I have never met and places I have never been! Yet Your word declares that this is true! So, believing in Your word, I will stand on this truth and open myself to all of the world-changing possibilities You bring my way!   ---Adapted from the article  Unleashing God’s Power on Earth by David Butts. Prayer Points Praise God for his leadership over the redeemed because of his unfailing love and strength (Ex. 15:11, 13). Give thanks for leaders who speak the Word of God to you (Heb. 13:7). Confess your lack of recognizing God’s leadership through others that he brings into your life and your failure to support them with your prayers (1 Tim. 2:1-2). Commit yourself to following God’s leadership as he brings you into a land “flowing with milk and honey” (Num. 14:8). Ask God to help you be a good leader in bringing others to him. Ask that all Christians will “walk the walk” and not just “talk the talk” that will lead others to salvation in Jesus. 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.