TGIF...Thank God I'm Forgiven Friday! Worship! Adore! PTL! Celebrate your forgiveness and God's great love, mercy and grace!
Thank you for your prayers and encouragements! They are powerful and mean so much!
Please know and celebrate that God is hearing and responding to our prayers for the roof and insurance. Things are looking promising to have new insurance by the 15th and minor roof repairs being scheduled. PTL! Keep praying with thanksgiving! More updates Sunday!
Don't forget Sunday is Worldwide communion and we will collect for Everlasting Life Ministries too.
Pray for our Clothing Closet and workers tomorrow to be God's vessels, to connect to and bless clients, to draw clients to God's love and for protection. Thank God for all our servants!
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Good Morning Receiving, Releasing, Informed, Empowered, Pray-ers and Followers of Jesus! Amen! So be it Lord! raise up prayer warriors and a house of prayer for the nations at St. Matts. Inform and hear our prayers. Thank You! Amen! Check out the Harvest Blog at the bottom and pray for our church leaders. Wed. during the Bishop led EC Day of Fasting and Prayer, he prayed for our pastors and leaders during this month set aside to honor our leaders. harvest continues those prayers. We need you to pray! Thanks!
This morning God led me to some different devotional thoughts and resources as He was preparing me to write this blog. PTL! He is speaking all the time and I was able to hear and sense the thread through these as I focused on Him. I'm going to start here with 1 Peter 2 as two devotions used parts of it. Reading them reminded me of our discussion Wed and yesterday about Peter and his new name and the weight of being called to leadership. We are to draw close to our Vine, stay connected and receive His life giving sap of wisdom, love and direction.
1Peter 2: 4-9 and 21-25:
4 You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor. 5 And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. 6 As the Scriptures say,
“I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem,
chosen for great honor,
and anyone who trusts in him
will never be disgraced.”
7 Yes, you who trust him recognize the honor God has given him. But for those who reject him,
“The stone that the builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.”
8 And,
“He is the stone that makes people stumble,
the rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them. 9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.
21 For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.
22 He never sinned,
nor ever deceived anyone.
23 He did not retaliate when he was insulted,
nor threaten revenge when he suffered.
He left his case in the hands of God,
who always judges fairly.
24 He personally carried our sins
in his body on the cross
so that we can be dead to sin
and live for what is right.
By his wounds
you are healed.
25 Once you were like sheep
who wandered away.
But now you have turned to your Shepherd,
the Guardian of your souls.
So, what's God saying to you as you meditate on His Word this morning?
I'm reminded that following Jesus sometimes doesn't lead to comfort or happiness. We are to be like Jesus who suffered and endured all kinds of things so that we could be set free and united with Him for eternity. PTL! Dying to self and taking up cross--crucifying some things hurts sometimes, and following Him and His example is a command. Daily we have things to take to the cross and things to meditate upon and bring to prayer and action as we dwell in His Living Word. Help us Lord! We are to turn off the noise and fix our thoughts on things above as we seek to follow Jesus each day. And God is faithful to be with us always and promises to work all things together for good. We are to be thankful always--not for things like sickness, death, cancer, broken relationships, etc. But to be thankful that God knows, promises to be with us always and at work. PTL! As we shift our focus through praise and thanksgiving, God comes and inhabits our praise and helps us to receive His shalom and directions. Thanks Lord! Help us to turn off the noise and focus on you more quickly as we renew our thinking through praise and worship. Thanks You!
OUR Daily Bread reminds us of the urgency to have the same attitude as Christ and to seek to respond like Him to all the hard times. They use 1 Peter 2:21-25 as the basis for that teaching. Check it out below. Joyce Meyers reminds us that we are saved from sin! TGIF! Amen! And that Jesus understands what we are facing. he is our High priest even as we are all priests unto the Lord for others. Charles Stanley reminds us not to be conformed to this world but to allow our Savior and the Holy Spirit to transform our thinking and help us to repent (turn the other way). Where might you need some mind renewing today? Ask the Father and receive it and His mind. We have the mind of Christ in us. It's time to start using it, thinking like Him and allowing Him to direct our steps. Don't lean on your own understanding but trust God and follow Jesus with all your heart. He is faithful to lead us well! Amen! He sets us free of sin and guilt and redirects us to His good ways. Thanks Lord! And the Upper Room speaks about lifelines and God's good plans for us that lead to a future and hope, even in spite of all the hardships. We always have this to cling to. Amen! We need others and each other to pray, help us redirect our thinking and focus, hold us accountable, to pray and to point out weak spots. Who is your buddy? Ask God for some and how you can be one and do something about that. Who do you know that could use a lifeline of love and hope and help right now? God saves us to go be Jesus in the flesh to others. He has a custom plan for you, just as you are. PTL! Seek first His Kingdom and cling to Jesus always and you will be on your way to the abundant life He promises. Amen!
ODB:
A Christlike Response
When they hurled their insults at [Jesus], he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 1 Peter 2:23
READ 1 Peter 2:21-25
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George was working on a construction job in the heat of the Carolina summer sun when someone living nearby walked into the yard where he was working. Clearly angry, the neighbor began to curse and criticize everything about the project and how it was being done. George received the verbal blows without response until the angry neighbor stopped yelling. Then he gently responded, “You’ve had a really hard day, haven’t you?” Suddenly, the angry neighbor’s face softened, his head dipped, and he said, “I’m sorry for the way I spoke to you.” George’s kindness had defused the neighbor’s wrath.
There are times when we want to strike back. To give abuse for abuse and insult for insult. What George modeled instead was a kindness seen most perfectly in the way Jesus bore the consequences of our sins: “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23).
All of us will face moments when we’re misunderstood, misrepresented, or attacked. We may want to respond in kind, but the heart of Jesus calls us to be kind, to pursue peace and display understanding. As He enables us today, perhaps God could use us to bless someone enduring a hard day.
By Bill Crowder
REFLECT & PRAY
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What makes it so easy to strike back at others for their unkind words? How can you be more intentional about showing kindness to those who are unkind to you?
Caring Father, please help me to find in You the strength, grace, and wisdom to display the heart of Jesus.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Writing to believers in Jesus suffering persecution and unjust treatment in a hostile and unbelieving world, Peter encouraged them to live godly and exemplary lives (1 Peter 2:12). He instructed them to submit to governments, respect everyone—including the king and even cruel masters—love fellow believers, reverently fear God, persevere in doing good, and patiently endure unfair treatment, which pleases God (vv. 13-20). They were to follow Christ’s example in enduring such suffering and unjust treatments (v. 21). His unjust suffering is at the heart of God’s salvation plan of substitutionary (or vicarious) atonement. The sinless Savior “ ‘himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross” (v. 24), “the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring [us] to God” (3:18). Jesus’ suffering served God’s purpose. We’re like sheep who’ve lost our way but because of His suffering, we “have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of [our] souls” (2:25).
K. T. Sim |
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JM
CS
UR: Lifelines
“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” - Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
Our twin granddaughter and grandson were born ten weeks early during an emergency procedure. They weighed two pounds, ten ounces and three pounds, respectively. Within hours of their birth, they were transported to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in a larger hospital. Multiple wires and tubes attached to their tiny bodies monitored their vital statistics and helped them breathe and take nourishment. These lifelines kept the twins alive for two months until they could survive on their own.
During this frightening time, I also had lifelines that sustained me. My relatives, friends, and church family checked on the babies’ progress daily and offered many prayers for them, their parents, and the hospital staff. I have never prayed as fervently or as often as I did during those months. I told myself over and over that “God’s got the little bitty babies in his hands.” This thought brought much comfort to my anxious soul.
When we are in a terrifying situation, we may forget to pray or we may turn to prayer as a last resort. But prayer offers us assurance that God is with us, caring for us through it all. God not only wants us to survive; God wants us to thrive!
Today's Prayer
Healer God, we trust that you have plans for our present and future. Thank you for caring for us and being with us always. Amen.
Harvest Prayer. Please keep praying like this!!! Your prayers determine our future. Thank you!
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October 4 - DAY 8 OF 40 DAYS OF PRAYER FOR OUR NATION
Praying For Pastors And Church Leadership
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“Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the Word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7 NIV).
There is a well-known story about Charles Spurgeon, an English preacher in the 19th century known as the “Prince of Preachers.” One day, a group of young ministers came to visit his church as thousands of people were coming to Christ through his preaching.
The young men asked Spurgeon about the effectiveness of his powerful preaching and the “secret” of the success of his ministry. Before answering, he ushered them down to the “boiler room” in the basement of the church. There were about 100 people earnestly praying under the area where his pulpit was located on the floor above. He said to the young men, “Now you know the ‘secret’ of my ministry. My people pray for me.”
The ministry of your church’s leadership will only be as effective as the prayer that fuels it. If you want joyful, Spirit-filled shepherds, who confidently lead their congregations into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ, then you must pray for them – and for their families!
Father, pour out an urgency to pray over my pastors and church leadership daily! They sit on the front lines of battle and the enemy wants to do damage to them and ultimately the body of Christ! Help me to intercede for these leaders and their families so that You will continually guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus! Keep them strong and protect them from temptation! Give them all the tools they need to lead, disciple, encourage, and train our church to be all You are calling us to be!
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- Ask God to prompt you to intercede daily on behalf of your church leaders.
- Pray that your pastors and leaders will deepen their passion to know Christ more intimately.
- Pray that your pastors and leaders will minister from the Spirit’s power, being persons of prayer and doers of the Word (Acts 6:4).
- Pray for the marriages and families of your pastors and leaders to be strong and fulfilling.
- Pray for deep friendships and wise counsel for your church leaders, as well as protection against the temptations and schemes of the Devil.
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