Sarah Update below
Good Morning Supple, Adjusting, Faithful Followers of Jesus! He is the Way! He brings the Truth alive! He gives life as we submit to Him. We need to remain supple, moldable, teachable and willing to adjust to what He reveals and what He leads to. Help us Lord! This train of though flows right from our devos for today. What's God revealing to you as you ask Him to search your heart? What are you willing to do about it? Who is praying with you, encouraging you and holding your feet in the fire to do so? God has great custom made plans just for you! Rejoice! Ask Him to help you stay focused on Him, cleansed and ready to follow well, and humble yourself as you trust, correct and obey. He loves you and wants you to choose His best. Do it today! He is our source, strength and help! Turn off the noise and distractions and focus on Him and His will for you! I already prayed for you! Shalom and enjoy this day in the Lord!
ODB: Ask God to do this and receive from Him with an open heart and mind and ask for a willingness and help to adjust to Him!
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To reduce food waste, a supermarket chain in Singapore sells slightly blemished fruits and vegetables at lower prices. In one year, this initiative saved more than 850 tons (778,000 kg) of produce that previously would’ve been thrown out for not meeting aesthetic standards. Shoppers soon learned that outward appearances—scars and quirky shapes—don’t affect flavor and nutritional value. What’s on the outside doesn’t always determine what’s on the inside.
The prophet Samuel learned a similar lesson when he was sent by God to anoint the next king of Israel (1 Samuel 16:1). When he saw Eliab, the firstborn son of Jesse, Samuel thought he was the chosen one. But God said: “Do not consider his appearance or his height . . . . People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (v. 7). Out of Jesse’s eight sons, God chose the youngest, David—who was tending his father’s sheep (v. 11)—to be the next king.
God is more concerned with our hearts than with outward credentials—the school we attended, what we earn, or how much we volunteer. Jesus taught His disciples to focus on purifying their hearts of selfish and evil thoughts because “what comes out of a person is what defiles them” (Mark 7:20). Just as Samuel learned not to consider outward appearances, may we, with God’s help, examine our hearts—our thoughts and intentions—in all that we do.
By Jasmine Goh
REFLECT & PRAY
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When have you done a “good thing” with the wrong motive? How can you ensure that what’s in your heart is pure?
Dear God, please help me to do what honors You.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
When David was selected to succeed Saul as king over Israel (1 Samuel 16:8-12), it was because God saw his heart and that it was bent toward Him. David was far from perfect, for the Scriptures describe his failures very clearly. He had a continuing desire to maintain a pure heart before God, however, as expressed in Psalm 139:23-24: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
Bill Crowder |
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CS: Not my will but Yours O Lord!
TWFYT: I can do all things in Christ's strength for when I am weak, He is strong!
UR: Help in Old Age. Choose joy, worship, trust, die to selfyyh and become a joy bringer!
The Lord said, “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. - Isaiah 46:4 (NIV)
One morning I woke up with a stiff neck and a throbbing headache. I have arthritis in my neck from a past injury that causes occasional headaches, but this one was worse than usual. With my husband away on business and no family living close by, I felt weak and vulnerable. I texted a prayer request to the women in my weekly Bible study. They soon texted back their prayers. One woman, Sarah, called to pray with me over the phone.
One of Sarah’s prayers particularly grabbed my attention: “God, we thank you for the body parts that are working well.” Hearing her words, I realized how often my conversations with friends are dominated by complaints over our aches and ailments. At 68, I sometimes feel like everything in my body is wearing out. I’m ashamed to confess that it hadn’t occurred to me to thank God for the parts that are still working.
When our call ended, I took time to thank God for eyes that can still see sunsets and red roses; for ears that can still hear symphonies and my dog’s delighted squeals; for a mouth that can still taste strawberries and chocolate and fried chicken. Soon, joy replaced my distress as I remembered God’s promise to care for me even as I grow old.
TODAY'S PRAYER
Father God, thank you for our wonderful bodies. Thank you for promising to care for us all our days, even as our bodies are aging. Amen.
Harvest prayer starters...choose joy and be a joy bringer!
- Rejoice with the prophet Isaiah, who wrote, “I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness” (Isa. 61:10).
- Thank God for producing such joy in your life.
- Confess any lack of Christian joy. Commit yourself to bearing the fruit of joy through the power of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22).
- Ask God to fill you with an inexpressible and glorious joy (1 Pet. 1:8).
- Pray for your own expression of joy in the Lord. Do unbelievers recognize it in you? Do they know the source of your joy? Ask God to make your joy genuinely contagious.
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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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Sarah Update:
Good morning, everyone,
Received some folks that are in need of our prayers, so passing them on to you, so you are able to start
lifting them up and supporting them through your prayers.
Dean, has asked for prayer for a friend of his - Debra Swisher Rivell - she is having some health issues and is low on oxygen and her red blood cell count is low. May we pray for her healing and the doctors and medical team working with her.
John Chobot has been diagnosed with prostrate cancer. May we praying for a miracle of healing and strengthening, also pray for his medical team as they work with John in coming up with the best plan of treatment. Also keep Donna, his wife in your prayers as they go on this journey together, and the rest of his family, Tim and Megan.
Continue to pray for those in our church family that are having medical tests done to find out what is causing their symptoms and/or that are struggling physically and emotionally: Ramon, Marylou, Tracy, Diane
Pray for Larry and Enol and their sons as they wrap up their time here in the states. They will be headed back to the Phillipians next week. Prayers for their son Richard, who is looking at various colleges, praying the Lord's guidance and direction in his life, and may he be open to where God is leading him.
Continue to lift up and check in on one another. If the Lord lays someone on your heart, pause and pray for them.
Stay cool everyone, and don't forget that if you are doing anything, Coffee, Donuts and Conversation are happening TOMORROW, in our Fellowship Hall from 10 - 12pm.....why not come and hang out!!
Blessings,
Sarah
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