Good Morning Grateful, Provided for, Agents of Change! God provides where He guides and uses us through that provision to become agents of change for individuals, communities and even the nation. PTL! Right? And it all begins with humble, grateful, surrendered hearts. It carries on as we flow from to seeking to receiving to following and we are blessed all along the way which leads to more gratitude and that leads to more blessings to be used to bless and change situations and even change us. We get to worship, praise, team up and go live and love like Jesus just as we are and created to do. Again joy flows into that and peace as we follow Jesus with grateful hearts. People notice our joy and peace and want that. This world needs much love, joy and peace and we are sent to bring it alive. I just love being a child of God doing what I'm made and gifted to do! How about you?
God is creative. He is in us creating new hearts, new minds, new attitudes, and leading to new opportunities to shine. How might His creativeness flow through you to find creative ways to bless others? (Really meditate on that!) Who needs to see your faith and loving care in action? How might you find a way to bless them? How has God provided as He guided and how do you steward those blessings well? Much to ponder and process with your team and then make plans to be doers too. Go live and love like God creatively as you follow His provision. He does have great plans for you and us! Let's pray for creative ideas for how to step into those and bless others and God!
All this thinking flows for the Harvest Connection blog and Our Daily Bread and Upper Room devos for . Did you catch the thread. has the Holy Spirit pinched you? How might God be wanting to apply this and bring it alive in and through you? Ask Him and process with some friends. Get creative! Steward well! Go love as you are created and gifted to do for such a time as this! Overflow with gratitude as you choose joy and obedience always. Amen!
Connection Blogs:
- Are You an Agent of Change?
“But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called , so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness” (Hebrews 3:13).
May I suggest a short prayer that you and/or your family can lift up each and every day? "Lord, show us the people You want us to help or encourage . Lead us to those who are hurting or in need and we will trust you for the means to do something about it." I can promise you that your loving Father will answer if you will listen and obey. He will trust you with small things first and then He will stretch you to be obedient in His bigger plans and purposes.
Being the answer to the prayers of others is one way to be used by God. Being the answer to our own prayers is an astonishingly powerful privilege. There may be situations in the lives of people you know, or perhaps He will choose to use your prayer to work in the lives of those you may never meet. Prayer is a great mystery, but God has chosen to use us to be His agents of answered prayer. Knowing this makes prayer such an honor. It encourages us to pray more and to listen better! We should always be ready to stand in the gap when the Lord places a burden or need on our hearts. He may not always use you in certain situations, but because of your prayers, He may have touched the heart of others to respond. A good prayer when those you are praying for are far away is, "Lord, would you put one of Your willing servants into the path of this person who can be a blessing to them?" The family of God is extensive and worldwide. He will use every heart that is willing to listen to His voice.
Lord, show me the people You want me to help or encourage . Lead me to those who are hurting or in need and I will trust you for the means to do something about it. Stretch my obedience and grow my desire to be Your agent of change in this hurting world. Give me joy in being a house of prayer for all the nations of the earth, as well as for each person into whose life You send me!
Praise God as the Father of the fatherless and the defender of the helpless.
Give thanks that, even in large cities, God’s eye is on the small and defenseless and alone (Jon. 4:11).
Confess those times when you have not remembered by prayer or material aid those in your community who have needed your help (Mt. 25:35-40).
Commit yourself to looking at others through the compassionate eyes of your Father.
Ask him to pull you out of your comfort zone and into the needs of others.
Ask God to help you see where other family members feel helpless or alone and to allow you to bear their burdens with them (Gal. 6:2).
Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayerleader.com. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
My dear friend Sally wanted to give a birthday party for one of her friends. She knew her friend had been experiencing a tough time, and Sally desired to help lift her spirits. However, Sally was unemployed and didn’t have extra money to purchase food for a nice party. So she looked in her refrigerator and cabinets to see what was available. She then created a nice spread consisting of many items she’d previously purchased and had in her home.
When Sally shared with me the creative menu she had come up with, I thought about the story of Elijah and the widow (1 Kings 17:7-16). The widow didn’t have much. In fact, she told the prophet Elijah that she was going to prepare her final scraps of food for herself and her son “and [then] die” of starvation (v. 12). And she only had a small amount of flour and olive oil, just enough for their final meal.
But Elijah ensured the woman that her “jar of flour . . . and the jug of oil [would] not run dry” until God sent rain again (v. 14). By trusting in what God revealed through Elijah—even though she didn’t think she had enough—the woman found that God provided what she needed even though her kitchen was barren.
Just like my friend, the widow found what she needed. Following their examples, let’s live generously and rest in God’s provision for us.
By Katara Patton
REFLECT & PRAY
What’s causing you to resist sharing with others ? How can you give generously even when it seems like you’re lacking resources?
Heavenly Father, please help me to share with others as I trust You to provide what I need.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The story of the Phoenician widow (1 Kings 17:7-24) appears in the middle of a series of contests between God (Yahweh) and the false god Baal. Yahweh closed the clouds and stopped the rain (v. 1)—a direct attack on Baal’s supposed control over agricultural fertility. Yahweh then sends Elijah to Zarephath and performs a series of miracles through the prophet (vv. 7-24). Yahweh, not Baal, provided food for the widow and her family and also showed that He has power over life itself. No matter how desperate the situation, God alone will care for His people.
Jed Ostoich
UR: Grateful Heart
Always give thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. - Ephesians 5:20 (CEB)
For weeks I had been battling feelings of stress, irritation, and anger. I felt frustrated with everyone and everything. While getting ready for work one day, I told God I didn’t know why my attitude was so bad, but I wanted to change it. I asked for God’s help to reveal what I needed to do to reverse course. One word immediately settled into my heart: gratitude.
I spent the remainder of the morning and my commute to work expressing gratitude to God for big and small things. I thanked God for clean water to bathe in; for the scrambled eggs I enjoyed for breakfast; for a car that works; for my sweet dogs who make me laugh; for God’s mercies that are new every day; and for so much more. As I continued to express thankfulness, my sour attitude became sweeter and sweeter.
’s scripture reading reminds us to make music to the Lord in our hearts and to give thanks to God for everything. When we practice gratitude and center our hearts on thankfulness, we not only honor God, but we are more joyful, peaceful, and loving.
's Prayer
Dear God, help us to nurture within ourselves a heart of gratitude and toward you. Amen.
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