Good Morning Friends! Couldn't resist a quick share ! Check out our devotionals below and the thread through them to what we are doing and what God is leading us to be and do. He is love and so are we! I'm ordering stuff for our night study on community and a study of the Acts 2 Church community. God has made us for community and relationships and we are committed to grow a loving community that welcomes, loves and grow together. God is the master gardener that draws, plows, plants sows and waters, fertilizes and harvest. He does that through us and prunes us too to help our fruit grow and flourish. Our fruit is budding and growing and much good fruit is coming! Amen! And we are doing what we can with what He's blessed us with. We need each other and He has gathered, is growing and also sending us to flourish and bring in the harvest as we continue to team up and do our parts, It's so cool when God affirms and speaks to our hearts and reminds us we are on the right track and great things are budding. PTL! What's God saying to you and what's your part. Talk to Him and your teammates and make His plans and prepare for the harvest ahead! he is blessing us and will use those blessings to bless others and bring in more blessings! I'm so excited I just had to share this to encourage you to keep at it and keep seeking His Kingdom. OK...checking out again. Shalom shalom! Keep seeking, digging, uniting and doing what you can with what He's blessed you and us with. Great fruit is coming! Amen!
When my husband, Alan, and I decided to move across the country to Philadelphia to further his education, I didn’t have a job lined up, and we had no idea how we would afford student housing. On a , shortly before we were to leave, a church acquaintance introduced us to a former student of the university Alan was to attend who knew of an affordable apartment. Then, before we left, a workmate gave me the name of a contact at a Christian ministry. God answered our prayers and gave us opportunities—including an apartment and a job—through His people. Friends and family helped us move and ushered us on with prayer.
The author of Ecclesiastes wrote about the benefits of not going through life alone: “Two are better than one” (4:9). Two get more work done, can help each other through struggles, offer companionship, and ward against danger (vv. 9-11). He went on to say, “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (v. 12). A community has even greater benefits. More resources, more support.
Alan and I benefited from the community we left behind. And God helped us build a new community to help us feel at home in the big city. If you feel alone, ask God to help you find a friend, a good church, or a place to serve in a community.
By Alyson Kieda
REFLECT & PRAY
What communities are you a part of? How do you help each other?
Dear God, thank You for surrounding me with friends and family. Please help me to invite others into Your community.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
In Ecclesiastes, Solomon—“the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem” (1:1)—examines life as he’s lived it. He discusses human life—achievements, hard work, pleasures, and the pursuit of knowledge—to show that without God our human endeavors won’t give us a meaningful life. In chapter 4, Solomon extols the value of community. A person driven by his selfish, competitive spirit to outdo his neighbors (v. 4) is one who lives a lonely, miserable, and meaningless existence (vv. 7-8). In contrast, Solomon writes of another person, who works in collaboration with others instead of in competition. He commends the advantages of companionship in times of inadequacy and adversity. Cooperation is better because it’s mutually beneficial. As believers in Jesus, we belong to the body of Christ, the church, so that we don’t have to face life’s challenges alone. We can reach out and help each other succeed (see vv. 9-10).
K.T. Sim
UR: Gardening with God
Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. - Galatians 5:16-17 (NIV)
This year I have a community garden plot where I can grow vegetables. A few months after planting the seedlings and seeds, I am still enjoying the garden. But I had forgotten just how persistent and stubborn weeds are.
Week after week, it feels like I am pulling the same weeds from the same spots! It is amazing to me how quickly the weeds grow and how fast they can get out of hand if I miss a week of weeding. While the vegetables I have planted are steadily getting stronger and healthier, I am struck by the sheer determination of the weeds to grow despite repeatedly being ripped out.
How often do our lives parallel this scenario? God’s Spirit grows the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control in us (see Gal. 5:22-23). But there are weeds in our lives too: envy, cruel responses, anger, unforgiveness, or self-defeat. These things can be difficult to remove, but we must deal with them at the root. The good news is that we aren’t tackling the weeds alone. We have a faithful, compassionate Gardener who works in us and with us, helping us uproot the weeds and nurturing the fruit in us.
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's Prayer
Gracious God, thank you for the work of transformation you are doing in us. Amen.
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