Good Morning Listening, Watching Followers of Our Good Shepherd! We are learning to listen to hear His voice and follow, watch Him to be at work and joining Him, and allowing Him to Shepherd us. What an awesome God we serve! He wants to be in an intimate, growing relationship with Him as He shepherds and teaches us to receive His best and follow well. Check out John 10 today. Jesus is our Gate to salvation and new life. He then is our Good Shepherd. We know His voice and follow Him. He protects us and takes care of us. The 23rd Psalm may be a great meditative praise and prayer read today. He loves you, cares for you and calls you His own! PTL! And He's actively searching for others to join His flock and uses us to help lead them to Him. Pray for our donut and conversation day today during the Bread Ministry for many to hear His voice and be drawn. Pray for all who come to feel loved and accepted. Pray for our members that come to connect to just the right people and connect them to the Shepherds caring love and salvation.
God will open the eyes of our hearts when we come to Him in humility and asking Him to speak and teach and lead. That has been a theme I've been encountering the past few days. Here's the song to use for centering prayer today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0orH2uloeI Check out ODB below as you prayerfully worship to hear, see and follow today.
See you today from 10-12 at donut day, or tonight at the Chosen Huddle/Family Miniseries gathering at 6 for dinner. Pastor Don is creating a sit down dinner feast! Come! Taste and see how good the Lord is and bring someone along! Pray for this to be a day where our Shepherd is glorified and some step through the Gate and walk with our flock as we walk with Jesus. Amen!
God loves you! Jesus says come and walk in my loving care today. Open the eyes of our hearts Lord as we learn to live and love like Jesus together! Amen!
Our Daily Bread:
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In 2001, a premature baby named Christopher Duffley surprised doctors by surviving. At five months old, he entered the foster care system until his aunt’s family adopted him. A teacher realized four-year-old Christopher, though blind and diagnosed with autism, had perfect pitch. Six years later at church, Christopher stood onstage and sang, “Open the Eyes of My Heart.” The video reached millions online. In 2020, Christopher shared his goals of serving as a disability advocate. He continues to prove that possibilities are limitless with the eyes of his heart open to God’s plan.
The apostle Paul commended the church in Ephesus for their bold faith (Ephesians 1:15–16). He asked God to give them “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation” so they would “know him better” (v. 17). He prayed that their eyes would be “enlightened,” or opened, so they would understand the hope and inheritance God promised His people (v. 18).
As we ask God to reveal Himself to us, we can know Him more and can declare His name, power, and authority with confidence (vv. 19–23). With faith in Jesus and love for all God’s people, we can live in ways that prove His limitless possibilities while asking Him to keep opening the eyes of our hearts.
By Xochitl Dixon
REFLECT & PRAY
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How has God helped you overcome obstacles or limitations? How does knowing His truth, character, and love change the way you see challenges?
Mighty and merciful God, please open the eyes of my heart so that I can know, love, and live for You with bold faith that leads others to worship You.
For further study, read Why Should I Trust God?.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
In his explanation of his prayers for the Ephesian church, Paul concludes by saying that he desires all believers in Jesus to know God’s “incomparably great power” (Ephesians 1:19). To explain what he means, he points to God’s strength that both raised Christ from the dead and established His rule in the heavenly realms (vv. 20–21).
For the early church—small and weak in the face of the mighty Roman Empire—the sheer expanse of God’s power would come as a welcome comfort. No rule or authority or even death itself transcended it, and that very power was promised to His people through the Spirit (Acts 1:8). And, as if that weren’t enough, Paul points out that Jesus’ transcendence and rule isn’t bound to the current age but will continue when all other powers fade away (Ephesians 1:21). It’s that very power that the apostle prayed we’d all come to know.
Jed Ostoich |
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