Good Morning Forgiven, Redeemed, Drawn Near to Jesus, Informed, Praying, Friends of God! Think about and pray that salutation over you and us and those God is drawing! We saw this in action yesterday at donut day. WOW! God was moving and using us and drawing neighbors to His forgiveness, redemption and salvation. He allowed great and encouraging fellowship and at Family Ministries swim party last evening. God loves you just as you are is the Good News we get to share and He forgives, forgets and draws close all those brokenhearted, convicted, open ones who long for a loving relationship with Him or to mend that relationship. Nothing can separate us from His love! Amen! Rejoice! Too often we put up barriers because we don't understand the depth, width, height of His unfathomable love, mercy and grace. Please breathe out the junk and the things that are keeping God's love from reaching you. Knock down the walls and strongholds that are keeping you from His forgiving love. Breathe in His love, mercy, grace and know you are forgiven and He is calling you, His friend to come to Him. God is Love--always! PTL! He knows you and is calling you by name right now. Come!
In our own foolish understanding we often put up barriers or have expectations of punishment, unforgiveness and pushing away of the task-master we make God out to be. That is not the God who loves and pursues you. That's God made in your own thinking. Come to His open arms and receive His healing, forgiving love. There are several that we engage with at Bread Ministry that have the mindset that God could never forgive and accept them and if His people really knew their sins they would push them away. That's not the God we know, nor our church. But by the grace of God, there go I, right? Keep praying for God to draw and for open hearts and minds. Praise Him for the harvest that's coming and ask how you can serve Him as His harvest worker. There are several that are so close and some that may dip their toes in the water of fellowship with us to see how we love and accept. Pray for them to come and for us to live and love like Jesus. Amen!
Check out the thread through our devotionals today and draw near to God, receive His love and then follow Him to your purpose for today prepared and ready to love and invite people to His love. Start with Harvest Prayers blogs and prepare your heart to listen and receive. Ask God to draw you close and see yourself as He sees you with loving heart, wanting to be with you. Ask Him to help you recall and then pray His promises into your reality today. Ask for faith to stand on them and believe they are true. Pray expectantly with thanksgiving knowing His promises are true and yes and amen in Jesus and apply to you and those you are praying for. The things God created you for and His plans for you will come to pass as you submit to Him and step out in faith. You are forgiven. Confess, repent and draw near to God and ask for His help to correct and thank Him for His patient love! Ask Him for understanding and to forgive your unbelief. Think about sinful King David whom God called a man after His own heart. Like David, we sometimes, maybe often, sin, BUT GOD! He forgives if we continue to cry out for Him, ask for mercy, ask for wisdom how to correct and the heart to do so. Are you a man or woman after God's own heart? His surrendered and repentant servant? You can be. He loves you and wants that for you and will help you. Let go and let God is a good place to start as you stop leaning on your own understanding. And then find some mentors and teammates to travel this journey with. That is God's good plan for you and us. We are His family on mission together to bring Him glory as we trust and obey. Thanks Lord! He is calling you His beloved friend, and He is well pleased in you and your progress. Keep running to Him and dwelling in His love! Amen! He is calling you by name! He wants to draw you close and love on you today. Will you run to Him and let Him?
Why not call a friend or two and process these devos together and pray for and encourage each other? God has some great custom made plans for you to discover today. Rejoice and know His shalom! Amen!
Harvest:
|
|
August 15 - A Walking-Talking Relationship
|
|
|
As you come to God to get to know him through his Word and grow deeper with him through conversational relationship, you will discover afresh the God who is there, the God who cares, and the God who listens and responds to your prayers. He does all of this in the context of personal relationship, as indicated by the following Scriptures (though these words initially were directed to his people Israel, they reflect his heart for all people):
“Fear not, for I am with you; / be not dismayed, for I am your God; / I will strengthen you, I will help you, / I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
“For I, the Lord your God, / hold your right hand; / it is I who say to you, ‘Fear not, / I am the one who helps you’ ” (Isaiah 41:13).
“When the poor and needy seek water, / and there is none, / and their tongue is parched with thirst, / I the Lord will answer them; / I the God of Israel will not forsake them” (Isaiah 41:17).
“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 29:13–14a).
“And you shall be my people, / and I will be your God” (Jeremiah 30:22).
God longs for relationship, fellowship, and intimate communion with us. That’s what the Bible is all about, from cover to cover. It’s what the psalmist David contemplated in Psalm 139—just how much the Lord knew him personally and intimately before he was born and knew whether David would walk with or try to hide from him day to day. The desire God has for a walking-and-talking relationship with us is also what’s behind Jesus’ “gospel in a nutshell” in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
All who come to him through Jesus are his children, who now may pray, “Our Father” (Matthew 6:9). Through the finished work of Jesus on the cross, we may also enter the very throne room of God—not to receive the wrath we deserve, but grace and mercy in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16). Despite outer circumstances, we can have joy in such a walking-and-talking relationship with Father God.
Father, You are the worthy God who deserves all honor and praise and glory! Help me to walk and talk with You continually each day because I desire a deeper relationship with You! Show me how to listen to Your voice and pay attention to Your word in fresh ways so that I am better able to discern Your purposes for my life and for Your kingdom.
--Adapted from Walking and Talking with God: A Simple Way to Pray Every Day by Dean Ridings. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
|
|
- Praise God for his heart that is open, warm, loving, and kind toward all he has made.
- Thank God for reaching down to draw you to himself through his Son (Jn. 3:16).
- Confess the times when your heart has been unwilling to give to others the same out-reaching love that you have received from God.
- Commit yourself to learning the kind, patient love of God (1 Cor.13:4).
- Ask him to fill you with a knowledge of the depth and breadth of his love (Eph. 3:14-19).
- Intercede for the specific caring ministries that your church or denomination is involved in worldwide, asking that broken lives and poverty-stricken families may be helped.
|
|
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. |
|
|
Charles Stanley
Our Daily Bread
|
“I didn’t do it!” It was a lie, and I almost got away with it, until God stopped me. When I was in middle school, I was part of a group shooting spitballs in the back of our band during a performance. Our director was an ex-marine and famous for discipline, and I was terrified of him. So when my partners in crime implicated me, I lied to him about it. Then I lied to my father also.
But God wouldn’t allow the lie to go on. He gave me a very guilty conscience about it. After resisting for weeks, I relented. I asked God and my dad for forgiveness. A while later, I went to my director’s house and tearfully confessed. Thankfully, he was kind and forgiving.
I’ll never forget how good it felt to have that burden lifted. I was free from the weight of guilt and happy for the first time in weeks. David describes a time of conviction and confession in his life too. He tells God, “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away . . . . For day and night your hand was heavy on me.” He continues, “Then I acknowledged my sin to you” (Psalm 32:3-5).
Authenticity matters to God. He wants us to confess our sins to Him and also to ask forgiveness of those we’ve wronged. “You forgave the guilt of my sin,” David proclaims (v. 5). How good it is to know the freedom of God’s forgiveness!
By James Banks
REFLECT & PRAY
|
|
How has being authentic with God helped you? How has Jesus’ forgiveness lightened your load and changed your life?
Thank You for forgiving my sins when I confess them to You, loving Father. Please help me to always be authentic with You.
Hear of the great joy being authentic with God can bring.
|
|
|
|
|
|
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The book of Psalms is considered Israel’s hymnbook. Many of the psalms were sung or recited during their festivals and perhaps even at home or as they labored. About half are attributed to David. Psalm 32 is a penitential psalm of repentance and sorrow for sin. The best-known psalm of this type is Psalm 51, David’s prayer for forgiveness after his sin with Bathsheba. Psalms 38 and 130 are also examples of this type of psalm. Other types include imprecatory psalms, which invoke God’s judgment and wrath against ungodly people or nations (for example, Psalms 69, 109); and messianic or royal psalms, which prophetically describe the coming Messiah and His work (for example, Psalms 2, 18, 45, 72). Psalm 32:1-7 proclaims the joy of those who experience God’s forgiveness: “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered” (v. 1).
Alyson Kieda |
|
|
|
|
|
Upper Room: Our Go To Plan
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God. - James 1:5 (NIV)
The sun was just coming up. I got off the couch and opened the blinds to let some light into the hospital room. It was a new day. I sat down in the chair beside my wife, watching her sleep. The day before she had undergone major surgery related to breast cancer.
As I watched her sleep, I kept asking myself, What do you do when you don’t know what to do? I picked up my Bible and started thumbing through some loose clippings I keep in the front to reflect on in difficult times. I found an article that referenced James 1:5-6. James emphasized that Christians can grow in their trust in God during hardships and tragedy.
What do we do when we don’t know what to do? We seek God’s wisdom. I can understand this simple yet bold message from James. When our thoughts are entangled with doubt, fear, anger, or stress, James’s words become our go-to plan: seek God’s wisdom, meditate on God’s word, spend time in prayer, and let God’s commands guide your life.
Today's Prayer
Dear God, when we don’t know what to do, give us the strength to take the next step toward you. Amen.
The Word for You Today
LISTEN ONLINE
