Good Morning Armor-Clad, Prayer Warriors, Incarnators--Missionaries of Almighty God! Amen! We are the Light that drives back the darkness. We need to put on His armor and prepare for battle and walk in confidence in the protection of our Almighty. Amen! Today Sarah wraps up Ephesians 6 for us discussing our available armor. Put it on in prayer, stand firm in Christ and go take back what the enemy has stolen! Check out this song about that as you prepare for worship, prayer, and battle! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW6j_oKLYuU

I want to focus on one thing this morning from Our Daily Bread. Read the associated Scripture 1 Cor.3:1-9 and meditate on what God is saying to you? We may be receiving some new members from Methodist churches that just voted for anti-biblical things. Think about what Paul says in this passage. In 3:1 Paul calls the readers "worldly" and as people who choose to not live by the Spirit. They have grieved the Spirit by their choices because they are "people who tolerated blatant sin in their church." Ordaining and marrying homosexuals, transgenders, binary (whatever that is) and anything to do with LBGOXYZ is wrong, against God and His standards. It is sin and they are promoting and endorsing things opposite what God clearly teaches and we are commanded to not be involved with. Sure love the sinner. All are welcome here, but we will not endorse these sins nor help them to not feel the pinch of the Holy Spirit. If that offends you,  well, what's God saying to you? These things are sins not to be practiced nor tolerated in His Body. People opposed to these sinful ways and what the Methodist church just endorsed as ok are being asked to leave, and not very politely. Sin is offensive to God and should be to us. We all are sinners in need of a Savior and we must always be confessing and repenting of those sins, not endorsing them.

We will always stand solid on God's Word, not water it down, nor endorse sin as ok. Count on that! I will not endorse that. Also know, we are all sinners, but by the grace of God, hell bound. We will also call all sin as sin--gluttony, pride, deceit, lying, whatever and teach about how to repent, turn from these evil ways and come back to fellowship with God and our Body. Repent and believe the Good news and you will be saved is our message. Not, do what you like and we will comfort you in your sinful choices. Amen!

You can spend time with our other devos and with your open Bible. I am ending with that and asking for you to pray that we and our denomination would never waver from calling sin, sin and standing firm in Christ and on His Word. Amen! We are choosing to live, love, teach and lead like Jesus and committed to standing firm in Him, on His Word, and in His ways. Amen! We are called to help sinners transition to repentant followers of Jesus. May we model that well!

Choose today who you will follow. As for me and my house, we will follow the Lord, not the world and we will stand on His Word always. Amen!

1 Corinthians 3:1-3

3 Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ. 2 I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, 3 for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world? 

Harvest:

August 25 - Love On Its Knees We all want to leave a mark on this world in some way. Do you desire to be known as one who knows what it means to “pray and not lose heart,” as Jesus put it (Luke 18:1), and to “pray without ceasing,” as Paul the apostle said (1 Thessalonians 5:17)? Will yours be the prayers that linger before the Lord, affecting people’s lives, even long after you’re gone? There are often challenges to be faced that could keep us from leaving such a legacy.  One key challenge, for example, is that we live in a land affected by the evil one. While nonbelievers live as if God does not exist, sometimes believers live as if the devil does not exist. Jesus came because we live in a sin-affected society. C.S. Lewis put it this way: “Enemy-occupied territory—that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.” This is why we need to be “up to date” with God—in constant communion and communication with him—and why we need to pray not only for others but for ourselves as well.  This is a call to intercession. Oh, that there would be more men and women who walk and talk with God about everyone in their world. Dick Eastman, international president of Every Home for Christ, put it well: “Intercession is basically love praying. In the very truest sense, intercession is love on its knees. When we love someone we seek his very best.” This is Jesus’ example, and we would do well to live, love, and lead like our Lord as men and women who “always pray and never give up” (Luke 18:1). As a result, may we see our own lives and our world change in ways we can only begin to imagine! Heavenly Father, I want to be a person who prays and does not lose heart! Please teach me to persevere in prayer by increasing my passion for Your holiness and for the lives of others – believers as well as unbelievers! Train me in warfare prayer that never gives up and is always willing to step into enemy-occupied territory and redeem what belongs to You! Show me how to love like this, Lord! I want to be an overcoming, armor-dressed intercessor whose great love for others compels me into fervent intercession! Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer! Prepare me to step out in faith as You answer! --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. Prayer Points Praise God that he sweeps away your offenses like the morning mist (Isa. 44:22). Give thanks that God is not unjust and will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you help others (Heb. 6:10). Confess to him those secret things you do which you know are wrong but just haven’t been able to confess (Ps. 44:21). Commit yourself to building others up with encouragement and ridding yourself of bitterness and anger, forgiving others as God in Christ forgives you (Eph. 4:29-32). Ask God to help you be an imitator of him, living a life of love (Eph. 5:1). Pray that God will give you his strength to “right some wrong” that you have committed against a family member or friend. 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.