It's donut day! 10-12 at the Bread Ministry in our FH. Bread is sparse this week but donuts, cookies, fellowship and God's love will be abundant! Come offer yourself and join us in ministry to neighbors and each other! Thank God for using us and providing.
Good Morning Praying, Seeking, Submitted, Thankful, Followers of Jesus! PTL! Rejoice for He is our God, our Redeemer, helper and friend! Thanks Lord! Come! Fill us! Lead us Your surrendered servants! Come! Prepare the way and be our Shepherd today. Your will, Your way, for Your glory alone. Thanks! Amen!
Check out the flow and thread through our devotionals for today. Are they speaking to your heart? What are you hearing and what will you do about it? Who are you processing with? What are you praying expectantly, with thanksgiving, to happen today? Trust and follow well! God is the God of unfailing love. he's the Alpha and Omega--the God who was, is, and is to come! His ever-present, eternal love will never depart from you. rejoice, dwell in that love today and follow Him as He will use you to incarnate His love, hope, and help. Amen! rejoice!
ODB:
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He’s known as the military man whose commencement speech about making your bed every day got 100 million views online. But retired Navy Seal Admiral William McRaven shares another lesson just as compelling. During a military operation in the Middle East, McRaven has sadly acknowledged that several members of an innocent family were mistakenly killed. Believing the family was owed a sincere apology, McRaven dared to ask the heartbroken father for forgiveness.
“I’m a soldier,” McRaven told him through a translator. “But I have children as well, and my heart grieves for you.” The man’s response? He granted McRaven the generous gift of forgiveness. As the man’s surviving son told him, “Thank you very much. We will not keep anything in our heart against you.”
The apostle Paul wrote of such generous grace: “As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12). He knew that life would test us in various ways, so he instructed believers in the church at Colossae: “Forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (v. 13).
What enables us to have such compassionate, forgiving hearts? God’s generous love. As Paul concluded, “Over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” (v. 14).
By Patricia Raybon
REFLECT & PRAY
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Why is forgiveness generous? Whom will you forgive today?
Please grant me today, forgiving God, Your generous will to forgive.
Find peace through this class on forgiveness.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Colossians 3:12-14, which includes a list of virtues we’re to clothe ourselves with, helps us to see that love isn’t an accessory in the wardrobe of the believer in Jesus but the main piece: “Over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” (v. 14). Elsewhere, Paul’s list of the evidence of the Spirit’s work in our lives begins with love: “The fruit of the Spirit is love” (Galatians 5:22). Peter highlights the primacy of love in the community of believers with these words: “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). On the eve of His crucifixion, Jesus stressed the supremacy of love by saying, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35).
Arthur Jackson |
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UR: A Prayer of Gratitude
All were united in their devotion to prayer, along with some women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. - Acts 1:14 (CEB)
One day last summer, I stepped out through the back patio in early evening to walk my dog in an open area. Looking up through the majestic trees in the backyard, I took in the vastness of the sky and admired the beauty of hundreds of stars. The deep breaths I took were filled with peace and silence.
Suddenly, I heard a loud voice just beyond my yard where an artisan craft fair was taking place. At that hour of the evening the stalls were shuttered, but a security guard was on duty. He was praying out loud as he made his rounds: “Lord, you placed me in this place to watch over it. I pray for the vendors who work for their daily bread. I pray for myself, that I may be diligent in my work. Keep me safe from those who might wish to do harm to keep me from fulfilling my duty.” The security guard continued to give thanks for having a job, for his family, for the visitors and customers who planned to visit the fair the next day.
I paused and silently joined him in that moment of prayer. The Holy Spirit inspired us both to thank God for all the ways God holds us and protects us — in every moment and in all places.
Today's Prayer
Our prayer is one of gratitude, merciful God, for staying close to us. We know we can trust you with our lives and that your love for us never fails. Amen.CS:
TWFYT:
Harvest
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August 14 - Where Is Your Secluded Place?
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Good moms and dads understand this. If they have multiple children, they make time for each one individually. They have things to say to the whole family, but they know personal discipling must happen one-on-one.
Our Father wants to hear and gain the heart of each of His children, which can only be done in private. In these precious moments, a son or daughter can pour out their soul to the One who knows them best. They can be completely transparent with no embarrassment.
Like King David, they can lament and doubt, question and cry as they discharge their hearts to God. But before the secluded time is over, they will hear the Father speak the exact words they need. They will feel His everlasting arms beneath them and around them, comforting and encouraging. They will know they are enveloped in unconditional love. He will give the words necessary to bring them back to faith and rest. Read the Psalms and you will see this pattern repeated continually in David's prayers.
Can this be said of you? Do you rise with eagerness at the prompting of the Spirit? Do you enter expectantly into the Holy of Holies, humbled by the privilege of spending time in the glorious presence of the God-Who-Sees? Do you meet Him there? Do you wait on Him to hear what He wants to say to you in private? Do you listen to His Word through the Scriptures? Do you exchange words of affection? And do you leave that place equipped to give a fresh word to those He will bring across your path that day?
If this is your practice, you will have everything you need for everyone. You will not give people the noxious fumes of an exhausted life. The fragrance of heaven will be upon you—a fragrance that entices them to enter the secluded place themselves.
Ask God to awaken you every morning this week—at a time of His choosing—for prayer and the study of His Word. When you wake up, get up! There are other times for sleep, but nothing more valuable than time with Him.
Loving Father, today I exalt You and bless Your name! I shout joyfully of Your righteousness. You are gracious and compassionate, and Your kingdom is glorious! Forgive me, Lord, for not entering into the secret place before I do anything else each day! Give me the strength to set aside the things that attract and distract and keep me from spending time in Your presence! I want to have the fragrance of heaven on me at all times!
---Adapted from Prayer with No Intermission by Bill Elliff. This book is available at prayershop.org.
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- Praise God as the Father of the fatherless and the defender of the helpless.
- Give thanks that, even in large cities, God’s eye is on the small and defenseless and alone (Jon. 4:11).
- Confess those times when you have not remembered by prayer or material aid those in your community who have needed your help (Mt. 25:35-40).
- Commit yourself to looking at others through the compassionate eyes of your Father.
- Ask him to pull you out of your comfort zone and into the needs of others.
- Ask God to help you see where other family members feel helpless or alone and to allow you to bear their burdens with them (Gal. 6:2).
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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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