Check out our holiday handouts attached at the bottom. Who are you praying for and inviting to come and see and experience the love of God and our joy? Remember to be praying for 5 neighbors for 5 days a week for 5 weeks. As you do God may lead you to invite someone to one of our activities! Keep praying and inviting! God is growing you and our fellowship. PTL!!! And Amen!
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Good Morning Abiding in THE Vine, Receiving, Growing, Good Fruit Producers! Amen! Several songs and teachings that popped up during my quiet time this morning reminded me that I am a branch, connected to THE Vine, Jesus. From Him flows the sap of living water and the nourishment needed to go do my part in His Good News Delivery Co. From Him my steps and prayers are informed. In Him I am covered and protected. In Him I am secure. As I abide and dwell in His loving presence I find rest and peace. I am also reminded that the idle and unfruitful are cut off and tossed away. May that not be me or us Lord! Sun. we heard Paul's warning to the idle and to avoid them. I struggle as I age and am able to do less and with guilt for resting, abiding and moving with Jesus. Yet that is the perfect place to be as my overzealous busyness is pruned and I focus on his best things for me. If only I had learned this earlier in life. Imagine what good fruit I would be producing today. BUT GOD! We know He made us and knows us and our shortcomings as well as potential in Christ. Maybe aging is part of His pruning that leads to being a more efficient producer. Maybe today, He needs to prune some of my idleness or transform and renew my thinking? We have learned and grown and know we can only do so much anymore and that our focus needs to be on His best and to choose to do His plans and not ours. We have been pruned and positioned for great fruit producing for such a time as this. Stop feeling guilty about not being able to do all you used to do. Stop beating yourself up for needing to rest in Christ more before being energized to go. He knows you, created you and knows the season and circumstances of your life and has accounted for those and your purposes in His Good News Delivery Co. He has a plan custom made just for you for such a time as this! PTL! Abide. Reload! And go as you are with Him to the fruit awaiting! How cool it is to contemplate and operate out of this reality and your seasoned true identity in Christ! Now herein also lies a warning for the idle and sluggardly. Daylights burning! You have a purpose in Christ that others are counting on. Ask God to motivate and move you to His perfect, custom made plans for you and a willing heart and moving feet. Maybe you need some spurring on and a prayer covering. reach out to some friends to walk with you. Maybe God is stirring you to come alongside and spur on. Seek Him and commit to your part.
I am blessed and filled with thanksgiving as I think about the productivity of our gathered and sent fellowship too. We do need each other and God has been blessing our unity in Christ and our purposes. PTL! I am thinking about Caleb right now. At 80, he said give me this mountain. With the help of God and His younger teammates he did conquer the land given to him by God when they entered the promised land. What land has God designated for you in this season of your life and who are your teammates? It's time to get moving. Daylight is burning and God has some perfect plans and purposes just for you. Seek first His Kingdom as you abide and keep your focus on Him as you dwell in Christ and sink your roots deep in Him. The fruit is coming! PTL! And you will hear, well done for doing your part well! I am stoked for what lies ahead for you and us as we come alive in '25! Amen! I can't wait to hear the stories of what God is doing in and through you and through our Christmas Giving challenge. In 2022 we called it the Light 'Em Up challenge. We know the Light of the World. He lives in you and me and comes alive through us to light up the world around us. We are Hid Lighthouses! Keep praying into that, into becoming a House of Prayer for the Nations, and for teammates to go be the Light. Oh what joy I can sense already as God moves through and use you and me and us for His glory! The harvest is coming AS WE STEP INTO OUR HARVEST WORKER ROLES! PTL! Abide! be still and know! prepare and go live and love more like Jesus and watch for how He comes alive in and through us in the year ahead! I am really excited and encouraged as God brings this to life to me and through us! What good fruit is coming! I can almost taste it! Can you?
OK, so what's God saying to you today? Maybe work through the devotionals below as God ordered them for us. I know He is speaking all the time. He is speaking to me all the time and to you. Can You hear His still small voice. Watch and listen for that voice that steers you this way or that for His glory! Rejoice and abide! Reload and go! You are created for such a time as this! Thank God and invite Him to have all of you. Amen!
Sarah Young
Charles Stanley
Joyce Meyer
The Word for You Today
The Upper Room: Rowing or Drifting
We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. - Hebrews 2:1 (NIV)
It was a warm spring day — perfect for fishing. I felt such peace as my husband and I drifted along the calm lake in our inflatable boat. The sun warmed my face, and the gentle breeze pushed us along. We were so focused on our fishing poles that we didn’t realize how far we had drifted. What I thought was a gentle breeze was much stronger than I realized. We were heading into the reeds!
We quickly began rowing to avoid getting stuck, but each time our aching arms forced us to stop rowing, the wind took over again and moved our boat. Wet, tired, and frustrated, we ended up in a place we didn’t want to go.
When I reflected on this later, it occurred to me that my relationship with God is like that experience on the lake. It requires focus to grow in my faith. If I’m not actively rowing toward Jesus, I can easily drift away.
It’s easy to get caught up in the winds of the world and end up going in a direction we don’t want to go. Our relationship with God, time spent in scripture, and our connection to the church body make the difference between moving toward God or drifting away.
Today's Prayer
Dear God, help us to keep our attention on you and not on the things of this world that cause us to drift away from you. Amen.
Our Daily Bread
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A runner in the London Marathon experienced why it’s vital not to run the big race alone. After months of grueling preparation, the man wanted to finish strong. But as he stumbled toward the finish line, he found himself doubled over from exhaustion and on the verge of collapsing. Before he fell to the ground, two fellow marathoners grabbed his arms—one on his left and the other on his right—and helped the struggling runner complete the course.
Like that runner, the writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us of several important advantages that come from having others run the race of life with us. Solomon set forth the principle that “two are better than one” (Ecclesiastes 4:9). He shed a spotlight on the advantages of joint efforts and mutual toil. He also wrote that partnership can lead to “a good return for their labor” (v. 9). During times of difficulty, a companion is there to “help the other up” (v. 10). When nights are dark and cold, friends can huddle together to “keep warm” (v. 11). And, during danger, two “can defend themselves” against an assailant (v. 12). Those whose lives are woven together can possess great strength.
With all our weaknesses and frailties, we need the strong support and security of a community of believers in Jesus. Let’s press on together as He leads us!
By Marvin Williams
REFLECT & PRAY
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Why is companionship with other believers in Jesus so important in life’s race? How can you improve the quality of your community in Him?
Dear God, please help me build a healthy community in Christ.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Going on a journey is the metaphorical context for Solomon’s—or the Teacher’s (Ecclesiastes 1:1)—discussion of two being better than one (4:9). They can carry more on their trek (v. 9), they can help each other out of perilous spots along the way (v. 10), they can keep warm during the cold nights (v. 11), and they’re less likely to be assaulted before they reach their destination (v. 12). He concludes by pointing out that three is even better, for all the previous reasons.
Despite the bleak outlook of the Teacher throughout the book of Ecclesiastes, he still finds glimmers of hope and goodness. The strength of companionship along a journey might be obvious, but for those who believe in Jesus, it takes on a richer hue. As we walk this road of discipleship, we’re not alone. Christ walks with us. And He’s traveled the path before and will deliver us safely to His Father’s home.
Jed Ostoich |
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Harvest Pray Tues link: https://mail.yahoo.com/d/folders/1/messages/233667
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