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Saturday, July 20 2024
Rita's Gathering moved to next Wed. the 24th at 6.
Good Morning Seeking, Listening, Processing, Following Jesus, Friends! I am running a bit behind today and am writing this before I have engaged with our devotionals for today. I had a zoom huddle with pastors this morning from 6-7:30 and did not rise early enough to have my quiet time before. God was speaking in our huddle as we shared some things God may be revealing, reasoned together, and prayed for each other and for God to lead and His will to be done. I'd love to start some small groups with some of you. Is God stirring you to that? Talk to me and let's try it! Pray for God to bring alive and raise up a prayer movement in our building and some homes. What might He be leading you to host or be part of? Pray into that and talk to Sarah and me about participating in some prayer activities. God is speaking and has some great plans for you and us to discover, process, pray into, plan and then do. What might they be? Share your thoughts with us or others.
I'm just starting with the Harvest Prayer blogs for today. That is a great starting point. I will just list our other devos below that and allow you to process with God and maybe some others. What's God saying to you and what might you do about it? Be who you are created to be and do what you are created to do for such a time as this as you live and love more like Jesus! What's your part in God's plan? Pray! Prepare! DO IT! Daylight's burning! Who are your co-laborers?
This is the day the Lord has made! Rejoice and be glad in it! Seek first His Kingdom. Don't lean on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will direct your steps. Pay attention. Listen. Watch. Process with some friends. Plan. Go live and love more like Jesus! You were created for such a time as this! Enjoy! I'm praying for you!
Harvest:
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July 17 - Hearing God in His Word
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The first step toward learning to hear God speak is to spend time with Him. Make sure you are reading Scripture, meditating on it, and spending time with God in prayer—both speaking to Him and listening. You will develop your sense of hearing as you use it.
While I did say that God speaks today—and I believe He will speak even when you are not sitting with an open Bible in your lap—I also believe the primary place He does speak is through Scripture. You will most likely first develop your ear for His voice as you read the Bible. A verse will stand out to you. As you meditate upon it (think about it), you may hear “you need to apply that to _____________ situation,” and your mind begins to think about the situation with clarity. That was God’s voice.
You also need to be reading Scripture to put God’s Word in your heart. The psalmist said, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11). A little later in the chapter he wrote, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (verse 105). If you are practicing listening and want to hear God’s voice, you must be reading and memorizing Scripture constantly. The reason? What God says to you will never violate Scripture. For example, if you were having trouble in your marriage, God’s voice would never tell you it’s okay to have an affair with someone else or to divorce your wife. That “word” clearly is opposite of what Scripture says about adultery and divorce. That voice is simply your own flesh talking—or Satan. The more you know Scripture, the easier you can quickly dismiss outside voices as not being from God.
Lord Jesus, You were the word in the beginning of creation and who was made flesh! Thank You that I can trust every word in the Scriptures, and know that You will speak to me through them. Help me to desire to plant Your word deep into my heart, so that it will come to me in the night, when I’m praying for others, when I need encouragement, and so many other reasons! Your word is definitely a lamp to my feet and a light for my path!
--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.
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- Give praise to the one by whom all things were created, the one in whom all things hold together, the head of the church (Col. 1:16-18).
- Thank God for giving direction and purpose to your life in this day.
- Confess those times in the past few weeks when you’ve tried to take over the direction of your life.
- Commit yourself completely to Christ’s leadership in this week.
- Ask him to help you find the time to listen for his voice at the beginning of each day.
- Intercede for the leaders in your congregation, that they may find the wisdom and courage to follow Christ’s plan for your church without hesitating.
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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.
Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2024 is a free devotional published daily by Harvest Prayer Ministries. Subscribe here. |
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UR: The Power of Salt
You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? - Matthew 5:13 (NRSVUE)
My wife was away leading a retreat, and I was at home alone. I decided to cook myself a fairly simple meal with what we had on hand: chicken, rice, some spices — a lot of spices, actually. As I smelled it cooking, I just knew that it was going to be delicious. I spooned the meal into a bowl, took a bite, and it was one of the blandest things I had ever tasted. Maybe I should have used more spices? Then it occurred to me that I hadn’t used any salt. I shook just a little bit in, mixed it all together, and tried another bite. That second bite exploded with flavor!
Salt has a flavor of its own, but what makes salt so special is how it amplifies the other flavors of our food. A little bit of salt can bring out flavors that otherwise we would miss.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told the crowd, “You are the salt of the earth.” Being salt means that we are called to amplify what God is doing in the world. We each have our own flavor — our own unique personality, calling, and ministries. But what makes us salt is our ability to find out what God is doing in our communities and enhance it.
TODAY'S PRAYER
Almighty God, you call us to be salt. Help us to see you at work in this world, and guide us to be a part of your work. In Christ’s name. Amen.
ODB:
Two grandmothers from Texas became media sensations recently for completing a journey around the world in eighty days at the age of eighty-one. The globetrotting best friends of twenty-three years traveled to all seven continents. They started in Antarctica, tangoed in Argentina, rode camels in Egypt, and took a sleigh ride while at the North Pole. They visited eighteen countries including Zambia, India, Nepal, Indonesia, Japan, and Italy and ended their trip in Australia. The duo said they hoped they’d inspired future generations to enjoy traveling the world, regardless of their age.
In Exodus, we read about two octogenarians who were recruited by God for a different kind of adventure of a lifetime. He called Moses to go to Pharaoh and demand he free God’s people from bondage. God sent Moses’ older brother Aaron for support. “Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh” (Exodus 7:7).
This request would feel daunting at any age, but God had handpicked these brothers for this assignment, and they followed His instructions. “So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded” (v. 10).
Moses and Aaron had the honor of witnessing God deliver His people from more than four hundred years of slavery. These men demonstrate that He can use us at any age. Whether we’re young or older, let’s follow Him wherever He leads.
By Nancy Gavilanes
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How have you seen God’s faithfulness in your life? How can you serve Him in this season?
Dear God, please help me to follow You all the days of my life.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
God uses people at all ages. Moses lived to be 120 years old (Deuteronomy 34:7). Both Joshua and Caleb were in their mid-eighties when they led their people to conquer the promised land (Joshua 14:7-12). The gospel historian Luke tells of Simeon, who tradition says was a prophet, and the prophetess Anna, who waited expectantly for the Messiah. They were privileged to see the baby Jesus when He was forty days old (Luke 2:22-38; see Leviticus 12:1-8). At the age of eighty-four, Anna was telling others about the Savior (vv. 37-38).
K. T. Sim |
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