|
Saturday, July 13 2024
Thank God I'm Forgiven! And for so much more! What are you thankful about today? Tell God and share your joy with others!
I just accidently deleted probably my best blog in a long time. It took almost an hour to write and poof! Gone! Pride goes before the fall, right! Most of it was not from our devos below but they tied to it. meditate on them. Who might you process with?
Most of the blog was about unity with God and each other that comes as we come to Christ. We are one and Jesus prayed we would be the night before the crucifixion. PTL! Ask God for some ideas for us to gather together more often to pray, study, and serve. pray for some small groups to do that with or maybe for your home to become a gathering place. Let us commit to living this life in Christ together well! PTL that He has created us and joined us together for such a time as this. Seek Him and His plans for that.
I prayed for you a lot this morning. God is at work already bringing all things together according to His plans. he's preparing you and us and wanting to shepherd us to His best. Have a blessed day. Turn off the noise. Sit at His feet. Die to self and allow Him to crucify your sins and hindrances and put on Jesus' easy yoke as you follow Him today. Amen!
Shalom!
22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
CS:
UR: A Lesson in Humility
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves. - Philippians 2:3 (NIV)
We have an avocado tree on our property. When in season, the tree is so fruitful that our family of seven struggles to eat all the avocados. Often when I travel back to the city, I carry a sack of avocados to share with my friends and workmates.
One evening, almost one hundred avocados were strewn on the ground around the tree, so my dad had invited neighbors to come and collect some.
As I observed the tree and the many people collecting avocados, I gained a new understanding of humility.
The avocado tree is fruitful enough to feed dozens of people, and even though people thank my dad and me for the avocados instead of thanking the tree, it just humbly sways to the rhythm of the wind and blesses us with more fruit.
Our avocado tree reminds me always to be humble, even in success. God promises to bless and exalt each of us and to prepare a table for us, but the Bible reminds us always to stay humble.
TODAY'S PRAYER
Heavenly Father, thank you for your Son, who humbled himself for our sake. Remind us to remain humble like Christ. Amen.
TWFYT:
Harvest:
|
|
July 12 - For God Does Speak
|
|
|
Unfortunately, many churches today teach that God speaks only through the Bible. That teaching comes out of a fear of excess. Many have seen others abuse authority and power by saying, “God told me that you (or we) should (fill in the blank).” Or they’ve seen people who put as much weight on what they thought they heard God saying to them as they did on Scripture. Both of those criticisms are accurate. People often do both of those things. But you do not throw out something clearly taught in Scripture (the fact that God speaks to His followers) because of a few people’s abuses.
Writing on this topic, prayer leader Timothy Jones comments, “Some Christians conclude that God said all that needed saying 2,000 years ago. He stopped talking much when Jesus ascended and the Bible was compiled. Our listening, they argue, should be confined to what we read in Scripture. Perhaps, they allow, God communicates through ethical principles or a pastor or religious leader. But a specific, personal word? That smacks of mysticism or wishful thinking.”
I am confident in telling you that God does indeed speak today! Both experience and Scripture bear this out. In John 10:27, Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (emphasis added). Earlier in that chapter, speaking of natural sheep and the shepherd, Jesus said, “The sheep listen to [the shepherd’s] voice” (verse 3). God told Isaiah “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it’” (Isaiah 30:21, emphasis added). The indication is that communication—through speaking and hearing—will take place between God and His followers. As you grow in your prayer life and learn some listening skills, you will hear God talking to you.
Loving Father, thank You that You are still speaking today! Your voice comes in so many different ways, because You are a creative God! You know just what I need to hear and how I need to hear it, if I will be attentive to Your voice. Teach me to be a good listener so that I can faithfully walk in Your ways.
--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.
|
|
- Praise God for his patience.
- Thank the Lord for being patient with you and allowing you to come to repentance in Christ (2 Pet. 3:9).
- Confess impatience you have felt or expressed toward God or other people.
- Commit yourself to bearing the fruit of patience through the power of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22).
- Ask God to fill you with his patience.
- Impatience is a hallmark of our me-first society. Pray that the church will have a softening influence, proclaiming and demonstrating a patient “Jesus-first” message. Ask that the church will be patient even in the midst of affliction (Rom. 12:12).
|
|
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. |
|
|
|
|
