Zoom Huddle resumes at noon and Dinner Huddle at 6. is also donut day at 10-12.
Good Morning Praying Servants of the Lord! That's you and us, right? Check out the connection blogs and pray through them as we work at becoming a House of prayer for the Nations and teams of praying servants that seek, listen, prepare and follow well. We need each other and we need to keep releasing God's power and will in prayer and actions!
Check out our other devotionals too, prayerfully. I encountered and meditated some time on Gal. 2:20, My old self has been crucified with Christ.[a] It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Have you died to self and taken up cross to crucify some things that need to go? Have you been crucified with Christ and stepped ino your new nature and true identity? DO IT! NOW! Then ask the Holy Spirit to come have His way in and through you. Watch what happens! Share those stories wit us and your team. Check out the Upper Room re minder of our greatest calling. What's yours? I'm praying for you and us to draw near, die to self and allow God to lead us to His perfect plans and this year. Come Jesus come. Open the eyes of our hearts and lead us! Amen
- The Holy Spirit Gives Gifts and Equips for Ministry
Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this. There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have (1 Corinthians 12:1, 4, 7, 11).
One of the marks of God on a believer is that through the power of the Holy Spirit He gives spiritual gifts to strengthen them and the church. There are different kinds of gifts and God decides what gifts to give, when to give them, and how they will be used. These gifts are driven by the power of the Holy Spirit and manifested in the lives of ordinary believers. The Holy Spirit uses these gifts to strengthen the faith of the individual believer, build up the church, and impact the lost as He sees fit. He gifts and equips all of us in different ways to facilitate any aspect of ministry needed for the advancement of His Kingdom.
Holy Spirit, would You enable every believer to see how You have uniquely gifted them and that You want to use these gifts in their lives? Reveal to our church how You are using these gifts to build up Your body, the church! Empower each believer to continually exercise these spiritual gifts for Your glory!
--Adapted with permission from The Summit Church (thesummitchurch.org) we are inviting you into 21 days of prayer and fasting at the beginning of this new year! Each day will focus on a different biblical attribute of the Holy Spirit.
The founding pastor of Summit Church is Bill Elliff, who is now the pastor Emeritus and serves on the Executive Leadership Team of OneCry (onecry.com). You can find one of Bill’s books, The Essential Presence at prayerleader.com.
Prayer Points
Praise Jesus Christ for his grace and beauty.
Thank God for reproducing the beauty of Christ’s character in you.
Confess anything in your life which is displeasing to God.
Commit yourself to pleasing him in every way.
Ask God to help you live a life worthy of the Lord, to please him in everything you do, and to bear fruit in every good work (Col. 1:10).
Pray that all God’s people will be able to stand against the principalities, powers, and the world rulers of darkness that seek to control the lives and destinies of people.
Pray that they may put on the whole armor of God and may pray in the Spirit with all kinds of prayers and requests (Eph. 6:10-18).
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.
We all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. - 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV)
I paused along the edge of the pond during my morning walk to take a picture of the blue heron that stood motionless among the reeds and grasses. A perfect mirror image of the heron was reflected on the surface of the water. The reflection was radiant in the early morning light and reminded me of how we are called to reflect the image of Christ to the world.
When I was a new Christian, I thought I needed a special talent or ability to be able to make Christ known to others. However, as I studied the Bible, I learned that it is the Holy Spirit who makes Christ known by transforming us to be more like him in holiness, grace, and love (see Rom. 8:29). As we cooperate with the Spirit’s work, we mirror Christ through our words and actions, reflecting the character of Christ and shining his light to the world around us.
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's Prayer
Thank you, O Christ, for giving us the incredible privilege of reflecting your image. May the light of your Holy Spirit shine brightly in us and through us. We pray as you taught us, “Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation” (Luke 11:2-4, NIV). Amen.
