DONUT DAY!!! 10-12. Come enjoy a day of food, fellowship and fun as God uses you to bless neighbors in need! Come and see how God wants to use you and bless you!
Good Morning Doers of the Word! We are all about being who we are created to be and doing what we are created to do as gifted and empowered by the Holy Spirit in us--doers of the Living Word! May it come alive in, to and through us Lord as we step out in faith to do what You have revealed. Amen! Are you a doer? Talk to God as you open His Living Word and ask Him to speak to your heart and move your feet as He shows what to do. With obedience comes blessings and those blessings are part of His provision that leads to what's next and more blessings. It's a great cycle of love in action. Blessed to bless and then blessed back because of our obedience! What joy and an easy yoke God has for us! He is with us revealing, helping, encouraging, providing and protecting! AMEN!
we discussed James 2 and the Upper Room uses James 2:26 which triggered this train of thought and had me put other devos I meditated on aside. Check it out below and Our Daily Bread which reminds us and threads through this all to remind us that Jesus is revealed through the whole Bible. He is the Living Word and His Spirit brings His Word and Him alive in and through us. PTL! Part of our job is not only recognizing when Jesus is at work but being a doer by joining Him and doing our part. But we are also called to bring Him alive and His Word to those He is sending and to those we are partnering with as we become doers by working at living and loving like Jesus and by doing our part in His Good News Delivery Company. Spurring each other on to good works God prepared for us is part of why God gifted us as He did as well. Praying, serving, helping, encouraging are all parts of the company and come alive as we become doers and not just hearers, as we trust, step out in faith and obey. What's God got for you ? What will you do about these pinches to try something, encourage someone, and/or go love well? Who are you processing with?
May we be a people of living faith that reveal Jesus and bring God's Word alive as we go do our part to connect to others, connect them to God and make disciples. "To make a disciple, you need to be a disciple" is a quote from a friend of mine who has planted 100's of churches and made countless disciples. Are you a disciple of Jesus? How does He want to grow you and use you to reproduce what He's doing in and through you? That is part of our mission. Remember discipleship can be defined as "the process of becoming who Jesus would be if He were me." Have you entered the process?Do it! And enjoy the fun and joy of being who you are created to be and doing what you are created to do. What a joy! Think about how to bring alive our EC vision statement: "To know Christ and Make Him known". That is being and doing as you are created and empowered. Know! Make Known! Live and love like Jesus, disciple and disciple-maker! Pronounce that over you and our Body! And may God's Word not come back void but produce good and lasting fruit in and through you and us! Amen!
UR: Living Faith
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. - James 2:26 (KJV)
I knew my friend was going through a hard time. She was out of work and had three children to feed. I imagined a gift of a few groceries might help to ease her burden. So I headed to the supermarket and picked up a few essentials for her and her family. When I delivered the groceries, her look of surprise was quickly replaced by one of sheer gratitude. As she placed the items in her near-empty cabinets, she said, “You know, I’ll take these over thoughts and prayers any day.” That moment was a wonderful lesson for me.
How many times, after learning of someone’s hardship, do I promise to keep them in my thoughts or include them in my prayers? I know the right things to say, but do I act on them? We must pray for those in need, of course, but people also need tangible help. A bag of groceries, a ride to a doctor’s appointment, an afternoon of babysitting so that a weary parent can rest — these are simple ways we can meet an immediate need.
’s quoted scripture reminds us that “faith without works is dead.” When we put our faith into action, our faith is alive. In what ways can we show our living faith to those in need? Even a small act of kindness can make a big difference.
's Prayer
Generous God, show us how to put our faith into action, and give us the strength and courage to follow through. Amen.
ODB:
Recognizing Jesus
Their eyes were opened and they recognized [Jesus], and he disappeared from their sight. Luke 24:31
When Carlotta was young, she thought her mother had a remarkable gift for recognizing other people. But it was Carlotta who was remarkable. She had a rare condition called prosopagnosia. She couldn’t recognize or remember faces.
Shortly after Jesus’ resurrection, two disciples walking from Jerusalem seemed as if they had such a condition when they encountered someone they should have recognized. The two were talking about the exciting news of the past few days (Luke 24:14), but the third person seemed unaware of the events. They gave Him a quick summary, only to be surprised as this unknown person (Jesus) “explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (v. 27). Then Christ broke bread with them (v. 30)—something He’d done many times before. At that moment, “Their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight” (v. 31). They hurried back to Jerusalem to tell others (vv. 33-35).
Those disciples didn’t recognize Jesus when they were with Him, and they hadn’t recognized Him in the Old Testament—something they read often and thought they knew well. They needed Jesus to reveal Himself to them because they couldn’t see on their own.
We need that help too. Let’s ask God to open our eyes to see Jesus on the pages of the Bible and in our lives.
By Matt Lucas
REFLECT & PRAY
When have you failed to recognize God’s presence in your life? Why do you think this happens?
Dear Father, thank You for revealing Jesus to me so that I may follow Him.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
In Luke 24, we see that despite Jesus’ promise to rise from the dead (9:22; 18:32-33), His disciples weren’t expecting His resurrection. Women went to the tomb with spices to anoint a decaying body (24:1), not to investigate whether Christ had risen. Even after the women shared the angels’ announcement that Jesus had risen, the other disciples didn’t believe them (v. 11). And on the Emmaus road, even when Jesus Himself walked with two disciples, they didn’t recognize Him (vv. 13-16). Only after Christ shares bread are their eyes opened (v. 31). By God’s grace, we can also see our need for Jesus and come to Him.
Monica La Rose
Prayer starters from harvest prayer
Prayer Points
Praise Jesus, who is “declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:4).
Thank the Father for having given us his “incomparably great power . . . the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead” (Eph. 1:19-20).
Confess the times when you have not taken into account the mighty power of God in your life.
Commit yourself to meditating daily on the Scriptures and on the power of God (Mt. 22:29).
Ask God to use your weaknesses to “show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (2 Cor. 4:7).
Pray for God’s power to be unleashed in the life of the unsaved people you know, that their eyes will be opened to God’s love for them.
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