Good Morning Custom Created, Saved, Custom Gifted, Empowered, Complete, Servants of God Almighty! AMEN! PTL! Even when we don't feel like it all the time, that is you, me, us! PTL! Turn off the noise for a time today and dwell in His loving presence today. Listen for His still small voice whispering your name and meditate on all the facets of this salutation an truth this morning. Take some time process our devotionals below and His Word and Truth as he calls you by name and reveals His love and plans for you today. Ask Him to reveal your gifts and purposes and for some teammates to process, pray and plan with. He does have some great plans for you--big and small to discover, pray into and join Him in completing. Just dwell and worship some before stepping out in strengthened faith for this day--the day the Lord has made! And we get to worship, serve, trust, obey and follow Jesus too throughout the day He has prepared you for! Amen!
I've been praising God for you and praying for you and us. God has been reminding me of the group that just worked through the spiritual gifts study. I know He has plans for each of you to discover and grow into. I want to encourage you all, and especially the gifts study people to come together with some friends and ask God to lead you to what's next. Maybe it's a prayer team, Bible study, accountability group or some ministry to start. Seek Him! What's He revealing? Who are your partners? What's He have for you and what will you do about it? Ask Him with a prayerful, willing heart and watch for some amazing things to come as you put Christ and His mission first and follow well. I am so excited and, truth be told, a bit anxious that we will miss Him and His plans and avoid His stretching and sending. We are on our way to really coming alive individually and as His Body! However, for that to bud, grow and produce good fruit, we all need to be a bit more earnest in our approach and willingness to step out in faith. May He fan into flame the spark we are as we seek and follow and step into our purposes! Talk to Him and some teammates about this today. Then take some baby steps towards His perfect, custom made plans for you and us! We do really need each other! may we be fully His as we learn to live and love more like Jesus and as we are created for such a time as this! Amen!
Note to the spiritual gifts study people (and all of us). Check out the I to We devo. It really is what God has been revealing for me to share with you. I'm praying into that and believing we are about to come alive in '25 and beyond. How might He be setting up your next steps and what will you do as you step into His perfect plans? Let's talk about it, pray about it, plan it and begin, even today! Amen! In Christ we have all we need! He is enough--Jireh! he qualifies and empowers the called (you). It's time to stop bemoaning what is and allowing Him to use you to change the world around you. It's time to start living as if Christ is all that matters because Christ is really all that matters in this life and we are His! Amen! Stop--drop--and prepare to roll with Jesus! revival is at hand and awaiting us to do our parts. PTL! be bold and courageous! Trust and obey. And watch where you can join Him today! And keep praying for each other to discover, grow and go and for our leaders and vision team to seek, hear and follow God well as we lead our Body. (see Connections blogs for prayer starters)
Sarah Young
UR: New Life
Jesus said to [Martha], “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live.” - John 11:25 (NRSVUE)
Where I live, we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord in the springtime. The story of Easter is powerful no matter what season of year it is when we celebrate, but the theme of Easter goes particularly well with the theme of spring. The dormancy, cold, and bleakness of winter mirrors the body of Christ being in the tomb and the feelings his followers must have experienced. They must have thought all was lost and hope was gone.
When I look out at a winter landscape with bare trees, brown grass, and a dark sky, sometimes it’s hard to feel excited. But fortunately, spring always comes. Although the transition begins slowly, the trees eventually begin to bud and flowers burst forth. These signs give me hope that new life is coming and put a little bounce in my step, even if I am still wearing winter boots.
The Resurrection brought a similar hope. Jesus’ lifeless body came back to life. The dark, foreboding tomb was opened, never to be closed again. The morning came alive with the promise of hope returning to earth. God did something new on that Easter morning, and God does something new every spring too.
Today's Prayer
God of new life, your timing is always perfect. Thank you for the hope of Easter. Amen.
ODB:
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As an answer to prayer, unexpected funds from Alex’s insurance had already paid for his dental treatment. Now, another treatment was necessary. Where will I get the money for that? Alex grumbled. Resentful thoughts of heavy expenses filled his mind.
At the time when a deposit to the dentist was due, however, a cash gift from a relative suddenly arrived. “I felt ashamed,” Alex said. “I’d already seen how God had provided for me with the insurance payment. I shouldn’t have grumbled but asked Him for help instead.”
When the Israelites entered the Desert of Shur, they’d just experienced God’s deliverance at the Red Sea (Exodus 14). His miraculous help, however, now seemed forgotten as they grumbled over the absence of drinkable water in the desert (15:22-24). The Hebrew word for “grumbling” refers to rebellion against God. The resentful response of the Israelites was very different from Moses’, who asked God for help (v. 25). Later, God graciously provided water for His people (vv. 25-27).
In times of need, we can avoid grumbling by asking God for help as Moses did. Whether His help comes in miraculous ways, practical provision, people’s assistance, or the strength to endure, we can trust that He hears us and cares for us.
By Karen Huang
REFLECT & PRAY
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In the past, what may have caused you to grumble in times of need? How can you remind yourself to always turn to God for help just as Moses did?
Faithful God, You’re my provider. Please help me to look to You in trust and to rely on You in times of need.
Find comfort and strength in this deep dive into Moses's struggles in Exodus.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
In the early phases of the exodus, God reintroduced Himself to His chosen people, who’d clearly drifted from Him after more than four hundred years in slavery in Egypt. In the miracle plagues, God had shown His superiority over the gods of Egypt, and at the Red Sea, He’d displayed His superiority over Pharaoh and his armies. Now, in the wilderness between the Red Sea and Mount Sinai, God showed His superiority over the harsh desert conditions by cleansing the bitter waters of Marah for the people. In the piece of wood mentioned in Exodus 15:25 (translated as “tree” or “log” in some versions), some see a picture of the cross, which can sweeten a bitter life. At Mount Sinai, God would continue revealing Himself to His grumbling people through signs, wonders, and the law, but His ultimate revelation would come many centuries later in Jesus (Hebrews 1:1-4).
Bill Crowder |
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TWFYT:
I to We
Connections:
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April 3 - True Prayer Seeks God
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Prayer is not merely a religious exercise that Christians perform. Neither is it seeking a handout from God. Prayer is seeking to know God. It is seeking Him with our whole hearts.
The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah sent a letter to the priests, the prophets, and the people Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile in Babylon. In that letter he stated the kind of prayer that God acknowledges. “Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. And I will be found by you” (Jeremiah 29:12–14).
When a person searches for God with his whole heart, only then is God found. The heart of man is the central core of a person—the inner man. The Greek word for heart is kardia, which means, “the chief organ of physical life.” W. E. Vine says that the heart “occupies the most important place in the human system. By an easy transition, the word came to stand for man’s entire mental and moral activity, both the rational and the emotional elements. In other words, the heart is used figuratively for the hidden springs of the personal life. . . The heart, in its moral significance in the Old Testament, includes the emotions, the reason, and the will.”
Creator God, You knitted me together perfectly with a heart that is designed to be formed by Your own heart. Teach me how to be continually open to Your perfect presence so that my mind, emotions and desires are focused upon seeking a life devoted to Jesus.
--Adapted from The Prayer Factor: Adventures with a God who Hears and Answers by Sammy Tippit. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
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- Praise God for individuals whom he has called to be your spiritual guides.
- Thank God for establishing order and authority in his church.
- Confess any lack of appreciation for the responsibility God has given to your pastor, elders, and deacons.
- Commit yourself to regularly upholding your spiritual leaders in prayer.
- Ask God to grant you a willingness to follow their leadership.
- Pray by name for your pastor(s), elders, and deacons. “They keep watch over you as men who must give account.” Ask that “their work will be a joy, not a burden” (Heb. 13:17).
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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) © 2025 is a free devotional published daily by OneCry Prayer. Find more resources at www.onecry.com |
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