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Friday, July 26 2024
TONIGHT! 6PM. Rita's Refreshing Outreach! All welcome! Wear you St. Matts shirts. In the event it is raining or threatening, we will be at the Creamery across from Weis.
Good Morning Masterpieces of God, Made Alive and New in Christ, Gifted and Empowered, Co-Laborers! AMEN! Pronounce that over you and our church. Believe it! Live out of your true identity in Christ and do the things He created you to do for such a time as this. Those can be very big or very small things and are revealed as we continuously dwell in His presence, pray, and follow the Holy Spirit as we go and as we are for such a time as this! Amen! You are loved. You matter. You have God with you. Amen! Tonight we get to practice gathering to fellowship. pray and allowing God to use us. Pray into that and prepare your heart to engage with the harvest God is sending.
I've just finished up an amazing huddle time where we just stilled ourselves for awhile and waited on the Lord just like Jesus told the disciples to do before He sent the Holy Spirit upon them on Pentecost. They waited, prayed, received when the time was right and were empowered to go. Be still, seek, know and then go in His strength. God brought three verses to my mind that we meditated upon and processed and then stilled ourselves again before praying. Try it! Still yourself and invite the Holy Spirit to speak. Listen. What's God saying to you for such a time as this? What will you do about it?
Isaiah 43:1-2
...listen to the Lord who created you.
, the one who formed you says,
“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.
2 When you go through deep waters,
I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
you will not be burned up;
the flames will not consume you.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope
Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
You are God's masterpiece made new in Christ for His plans for you. You are holy=set apart-- and consecrated to do the things He has created you to do. No matter what you are dealing with today. God is with you and will help you. Keep your focus on Him. Trust and obey as you put on Jesus' easy yoke fashioned just for you and follow Him well today. Die to self. Turn off the noise. Stop pronouncing curses over yourself. You are a fearfully and wonderfully made very loved child of God! You are forgiven and made new. You matter! And you are needed and very appreciated! Be still and know. Reload and rejoice!
The picture came to my mind of when Peter had so much faith that he actually stepped off the boat and walked on water. We do that as we trust and follow Jesus. But something happened to Peter that happens to us. He lost His focus and trust as the reality of life started crashing in around him. And Jesus let him sink. But that got Peter to refocus and cry out and immediately Jesus reached under the stormy wave and took His hand. That reminded me of the picture of our baptism--we go under as we die to self and are buried in Christ and then we are raised to new life by Him and for Him. We are made new. We were one way and now another. AMEN! Turn off the noise and distractions and refocus on your Creator, Helper and Friend. And pray to be able to do that quicker and before you go under the waves. Being still is like fasting and helps us to redirect from the noise, chaos and things we put before God and our time with Him. Jesus says, "You are mine______________(insert your name). I am calling you by name. I am with you. I have great plans for you. Come. Follow me today! Rejoice and know my shalom. Come! WOW! Right! Breathe out the junk and turn off the noise for a little while. Be still and know. Pray. Wait for the Holy Spirit to come. Breathe in that fresh breath of God and follow well. He has plans for you today, just as you are! Check out out devos below that flow and thread through all of this. God has a great encounter awaiting your readied spirit! Rejoice! Know! Go live and love like Jesus. Amen!
God is really speaking to my heart today and preparing me to be His vessel at Bread Ministry, throughout the day and at Rita's. Allow--Invite Him into your quiet time. Listen. Receive. Follow well today to His great plans. Many of us are facing all kinds of bitterness and grief and anxiety today. Be still. Ask God to help you turn off the chaos of the storm and to still your spirit and to open your heart and mind. Refocus on Him! He knows you and is calling you by name. He will not let the storm consume you! Rejoice. He does turn the mourning to dancing as you grow to refocus, trust, be still and know. He is our Deliverer, Healer, Storm-Stiller, and Friend. Allow Him to transform your thinking and situation, still your soul and redeem what the enemy has stolen. He is able and promises to do so! Amen!
It's time to fast from the noise, chaos and whatever and refocus on our Savior and Shepherd who has great plans for you today and always. Rejoice! Know His shalom and joy!
Harvest Blogs:
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July 24 - A Fasting Lifestyle
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John the Baptist’s disciples couldn’t understand why Jesus and His disciples didn’t fast. Jesus told them the remarkable reason in Luke 5:34-39: “You cannot make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? But those days are coming, and when the bridegroom is taken from them, at that time they will fast.” ... “No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old garment. If he does, he will have torn the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. Instead new wine must be poured into new wineskins. No one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’”
Fasting disciplines and enhances the spiritual walk. It helps us quell sin and move the heavens to answer prayer. It increases our desire for the Lord’s ways. Fasting was an integral part of religious life during Jesus’ time. The disciples of John the Baptist, the Pharisees, and others fasted. After Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, His disciples began to fast, too, as part of their growing faith. While Jesus lived, He challenged conventional religious beliefs and behaviors. Jesus brought a freshness, a newness to the old religious paradigms. Concurrently, Jesus made “all things new” so hearts would receive Him.
Lord, I repent for not practicing a fasting lifestyle. Don’t let me overlook it any longer. Give me the insight, wisdom, and strength to integrate fasting into my life. I desire to pursue You wholeheartedly. I also repent for religious behaviors and thoughts that don’t reflect your heart. Lord, I desire and declare your understanding in every situation. I want to look at things with Your eyes, Your perspective. I declare I will not continue in old ways and thinking. Refresh me. Revive me. Renew me. Change me so I can receive all You have for me. Thank You that Your mercies are new every morning. Thank You that You’re my source and inspiration. I praise You and desire to draw closer to You. I praise You and want nothing more than You. I want to contend for Your presence, always.
--Adapted from Praying What Jesus Says by Natasha Miller. 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 being the God of “burning bushes,” calling you to respond and serve where he leads (Ex. 3:2).
- Thank God for revealing to you his call to service, and for your affirming response.
- Confess your deafness, blindness, hardheartedness, and excuses that keep you from hearing and responding to God’s call (3:6, 11, 13).
- Commit yourself to being aware of God’s presence every day and listening to his call to service, no matter how humbling that service may be.
- Ask him to give you a positive attitude in carrying out his call.
- Pray that you be hospitable, loving what is good, self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined, holding firmly to the truth (Titus 1:8), thus growing God’s kingdom on the inside.
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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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TWFYT:
ODB:
After his wife died, Fred felt he could endure the pain as long as he had his Monday breakfasts with his buddies. His fellow retirees lifted his spirits. Whenever sadness came, Fred would think about the next time he’d enjoy their company again. Their corner table was his safe place from grief.
Over time, however, the gatherings ended. Some friends became ill; others passed away. The emptiness led Fred to seek solace in the God he’d met in his youth. “I have breakfast by myself now,” he says, “but I remember to hold on to the truth that Jesus is with me. And when I leave the diner, I don’t leave to face the rest of my days alone.”
Like the psalmist, Fred discovered the safety and comfort of God’s presence: “He is my refuge . . . in whom I trust” (Psalm 91:2). Fred came to know safety not as a physical place to hide, but as the steadfast presence of God that we can trust and rest in (v. 1). Both Fred and the psalmist found that they didn’t have to face difficult days alone. We too can be assured of God’s protection and help. When we turn to Him in trust, He promises to respond and be with us (vv. 14-16).
Do we have a safe place, a “corner table” we go to when life is hard? It won’t last but God will. He waits for us to go to Him, our true refuge.
By Karen Huang
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When life is hard, what’s your safe place? How can you turn to and trust God as your refuge?
Dear God, You’re my safe place. Yours is the presence that will never leave me to fend for myself. Your help and protection surround me always.
For further study, read Jesus Is in the Room.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
No author is given for Psalm 91. However, because verses 1-2 continue the theme of God as “our dwelling place” introduced in Psalm 90:1, some scholars suggest that Moses wrote both psalms as an exposition of Deuteronomy 33:27: “The eternal God is your refuge.” The psalmist warns of threats, insidious traps, deadly diseases, unexpected events, physical attacks, and disasters that endanger us (Psalm 91:3, 5-6). This psalm doesn’t promise exemption from such dangers, but it assures us that there’s refuge in God (vv. 9-16). Those who “trust” Him (v. 2), who love Him (v. 14), and who pray to Him (v. 15) need not fear. Various vivid metaphors are used to describe the security and safety He provides: “shelter of the Most High” and “shadow of the Almighty” (v. 1); “refuge” and “fortress” (v. 2); “shield and rampart” (v. 4); and “dwelling” (v. 9).
K. T. Sim |
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CS:
UR: Bitterness into Beauty
“Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.” - Ruth 1:20 (NIV)
Due to struggles with my mental health, I had told my husband I did not want children, much to his disappointment. But as I neared the completion of my second degree, I was feeling the best I ever had. So seven years into our marriage, after experiencing a lot of God’s healing, we decided to start trying.
I quickly became pregnant. Unexpectedly, I immediately felt deep love for our child. And then not long after that, we had a miscarriage.
I felt I had suffered enough and couldn’t understand why this would happen. I recalled the story of Naomi, who had lost her husband and sons, crying out to God, “Don’t call me Naomi . . . Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.” For weeks I prayed these same words to God.
Then as I kept praying, I remembered that the story did not end there. Naomi’s faithful daughter-in-law, Ruth, remained with her and cared for her. Naomi would become the grandmother to Obed — the grandfather of King David.
At the time of this writing, we’re still grieving the loss of a child we never had the chance to meet. We still contend with the possibility that we might never have a child. But my story is not over. We aren’t guaranteed the outcome we want. But the God who renewed, sustained, and redeemed Naomi’s life can renew ours as well.
TODAY'S PRAYER
Author of life, help us to trust that the story does not end here. Turn our bitterness into beauty. Amen.
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