Good Morning Fruitful Branches of THE Vine! Amen! Today some of us need to get back to the reality of the work-a-day world and refocus back to producing fruit for our bosses. Some of us still have time off while others are retired. No matter which you are, you are still called to be producers of good and abundant fruit for the Lord. Check out and begin with Harvest Blogs this morning. God has created you, saved you, gifted and trained you for such a time as this and He has perfect and custom made plans for you to produce fruit that please Him. So be still, seek Him, receive His direction and empowerment to produce the fruit He has for you today.
Let us spend the rest of 2024 meditating on all God has done and seeking Him for what He has planned for us to come alive in '25. No matter what you are facing or celebrating, God knows and is with you and will use that to lead you to His best. Trust Him. Worship. Receive. And go produce that good fruit you are created and chosen to produce. Amen! I'm praying for you! God is with you! Rejoice, receive and follow well today! Amen!
Gotta Fly! Lots to do today! I have prayed for you and for me and for Go to make clear how He has planned to use you and me today! Seek and follow well, friends! Go live and love like Jesus! Amen
Harvest Blogs
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December 26 - Give Me Your Heart
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Before you begin, meditate on this thought: God has chosen to work through me.
Father how I thank You that because I have put my faith and trust in Christ, He has made me a new creation! The old has gone--the new has come! This great redemptive work is from You Father, through Christ, for me! My relationship with You has been made right and because of His finished work on the cross You do not hold my sin against me! Hallelujah! Praise Your holy name! (Pause and be thankful that Christ Jesus has saved you from your sin.)
Now Father I ask that You help me to understand what it means that because I am in Christ the message of reconciliation is lived out and proclaimed, through me! May I be found worthy of the name “Ambassador of Christ” and faithfully implore others to be reconciled to You.
The free gift of salvation through Jesus that alone can make us to be the “righteousness of God” is good news that most around me need desperately to hear. I ask that You capture my heart again I pray, with the joy of this great salvation in You and open my lips that I might praise You and proclaim with great joy, the gospel message. You are the God of all hope and I ask that I would overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit and continually be prepared to give the reason for the hope that I have in You.
This day I ask You Wonderful Counselor, that You open my heart and mind and give me ears to hear what You would say to me, what You would speak through me. Make me increasingly sensitive to Your voice and gentle promptings, and give me a willing, submissive spirit that I might obey.
Mighty God may Your power be evident through the way I live and conduct my life, that I would truly live and move and have my very being in You alone.
Everlasting Father may Your fatherly embrace and great love be expressed through my life. In my conversations and interactions with the world around me, be glorified I pray. May Jesus be seen through me in such loving ways that many are drawn to Him.
Prince of Peace in the midst of this chaotic fearful world, may the peace of Christ be spread through my life. Increase my trust and hope in You that I in turn might minister to those around me who are as sheep without a shepherd.
Give me Your heart. Your eyes. Your ears, O Lord. That in all things I might respond as Jesus would, and be a worthy ambassador of the gospel. In the name of Jesus, Emmanuel, I pray. Amen.
(2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Psalm 51:12,15; Romans 15:13; 1 Peter 3:15; Acts 17:28; Matthew 5:16)
--By Tiece L. King, author of the Pray the Word series: Pray the Word: 90 Prayers That Touch the Heart of God, Pray the Word: 31 Prayers That Touch the Heart of God, Pray the Word for Your Church. These resources are available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
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- Praise God as the one who makes it possible for you to bear much fruit (Jn. 15:5).
- Thank him for the promise of a great spiritual harvest in your life.
- Confess sins which stunt the development of spiritual fruit in your life.
- Commit yourself to daily devotional habits which will stimulate the growth of such fruit.
- Ask God to help you produce the kind of harvest which will give him the glory and praise.
- Ask God to pour out his blessing on his church throughout the world. Pray for fruitfulness among those who remain faithful to God and are firmly united to Jesus, the true vine.
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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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Sarah Young
Charles Stanley
Upper room: A Global Connection
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. - Psalm 42:5 (NIV)
As Christians, it is easy to think that we must not feel despair, be anxious, or have fears. We must remain calm and happy; we must always be loving, wise, and grateful. We often think that the struggles and burdens we deal with are never a struggle for others. This can make us feel unworthy and alone with our unanswered questions.
However, in those very moments the two of us have encountered a message from Csendes Percek — the Hungarian edition of The Upper Room — in which someone from another part of the world has written about those same doubts and experiences. Csendes Percek is precious to us because we read stories about real life, not only about “perfect Christians” and happy endings. We can identify with the feelings of the writers, and sometimes a story completely reflects our own emotions and thoughts.
Most of the time we do not receive direct answers or solutions, but we do find compassion.
It is encouraging to know that people living in different cultures and places suffer the burdens of this world just like we do, and they still trust God.
Today's Prayer
Dear God, we give thanks for opportunities to experience your faithfulness. Thank you for the support you give to us and all our Christian friends around the world. Amen.
ODB
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The year 2022 was very special for my wife and me. That’s the year our granddaughter, Sophia Ashley, was born—the only granddaughter among our eight grandchildren. Sophia’s grandparents haven’t stopped smiling! When our son calls via video, the excitement gets ramped up even more. My wife and I may be in different rooms, but her joyful holler reveals that she’s getting a glimpse of Sophia. Seeing those we love from afar is now only a call or click away.
The ability to see the person we’re talking to on the phone is relatively new, but face time with God—prayer with a conscious awareness of being in His presence—is not. David’s prayer in Psalm 27—voiced in the midst of opposition that required assistance beyond the capability of the closest human allies (vv. 10-12)—includes these words: “My heart has heard you say, ‘Come and talk with me.’ And my heart responds, ‘Lord, I am coming’ ” (v. 8 nlt).
Difficult times rightly compel us to “seek his face” (v. 8). But that’s not the only time we can or should be in face-to-face fellowship with the one in whose “presence is fullness of joy”; at His “right hand are pleasures forevermore” (16:11 nkjv). If you listen closely, at any time you may hear Him say, “Come and talk with me.”
By Arthur Jackson
REFLECT & PRAY
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At what time in your day do you find your heart most attuned to God? How can regular communion with Him prepare you for a “day of trouble”?
Heavenly Father, I praise You for the privilege of face time with You. Please help me to always be ready to spend time with You in prayer.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
David’s anxious prayer in the second half of Psalm 27 (vv. 7-12) must be read against his unwavering proclamation at the beginning of the psalm: “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life” (v. 1). David chooses to focus on God rather than on his difficult circumstances. He speaks of Him as his light, which guides him safely into God’s presence and goodness. God is also his salvation, delivering him from dangers and death. He’s his stronghold, providing a strong, fortified place for his refuge and security. Knowing who God is, David rhetorically asks, “Of whom shall I be afraid?” (v. 1). The psalmist needn’t fear, for God won’t abandon him. Rather, “the Lord will hold me close” (v. 10 nlt). David invites us to “be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (v. 14).
K. T. Sim |
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