Good Morning Connected Children of the Promise! Be still and know! Check out our devotionals below. God was busy threading them together with what His purposes are for you and us to enlighten, encourage, equip, and for using us today. Sit at His feet a spell and reload. Turn off the noise and ask for Him to lead you to His best and for help to release the good and better things that keep you from His best. Ask the Holy Spirit to light your path and for wisdom and courage to complete your purposes for today. Then go love the unlovable like Jesus did. Our call as a church and as people is to the least of these that God is drawing. Day Light's burning! Pray for BIG God-sized vision and trust and willing hands and feet. He does have great plans for you today! Reload, rejoice, get ready and go, cat, go!
Thank you for praying for our Finance Team Budget Meeting last night! Thank you to our team for seeking God and trying to be the best stewards while trusting God for the BIG thing that He wants to do. We know that where He guides He provides. It's obvious that we continue to operate with a deficit BUT GOD! We are asking that you suspend all giving at this time to Family Ministries, Benevolence, Outreach, Bread Ministry because these accounts are well funded at this time. Giving to those funds should be above and beyond your normal tithe since they are not funded by our church budget. Please focus on giving to and bolstering the general fund which pays for electric, heating, salaries and all the fixed expenses of the church. Even the rebuilding fund is good for awhile and the general fund could really use that giving. Thanks for understanding. We are trying not to cut and have cut the budget to bare minimum already. So, thanks for all your generous giving! Please help us bolster our main fund and if a need arises we will ask for your help. Also remember that you can designate that your church tithe would continue in your will. Thanks for being givers and great stewards. Just wanting to help direct your giving where needed most. Seek God and allow Him to direct your tithe and offerings where he is directing. He is our Provision, Portion, and Widom! Thank Him!
Charles Stanley
ODB:
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One weekend in March, I led a retreat on the theme of Mary and Martha, the sisters in Bethany whom Jesus loved along with their brother Lazarus (John 11:5). We were in a remote spot along the English coastline. When we were snowed in unexpectedly, many of the participants remarked how the extra day together meant they could practice sitting at Christ’s feet as Mary did. They wanted to pursue the “one thing . . . needed” (Luke 10:42 nkjv) that Jesus lovingly told Martha she should embrace, which was choosing to draw close and learn from Him.
When Jesus visited the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, Martha wouldn’t have known He was coming in advance, so we can understand how she could have been upset with Mary for not helping with the preparations to feed Him and His friends. But she lost sight of what really mattered—receiving from Jesus as she learned from Him. Christ wasn’t scolding her for wanting to serve Him but rather reminding her that she was missing the most important thing.
When interruptions make us irritable or we feel overwhelmed about the many things we want to accomplish, we can stop and remind ourselves what really matters in life. As we slow ourselves down, picturing ourselves sitting at the feet of Jesus, we can ask Him to fill us with His love and life. We can revel in being His beloved disciple.
By Amy Boucher Pye
REFLECT & PRAY
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What distractions keep you from receiving from Jesus? How can you sit at His feet today?
Dear Jesus, thank You for loving to instruct me in Your ways. Help me not to get distracted by my activities, but to focus on You.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Martha and her siblings often hosted Jesus in their home in Bethany. When we first meet Martha, she’s busy preparing a meal for Christ and His disciples and is upset that Mary isn’t helping (Luke 10:38–40). In John 11, we learn of Lazarus’ illness, death, and resurrection; and we see the sisters’ reactions. When Christ says to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live . . . . Do you believe this?” she replies, “Yes, . . . I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world” (vv. 25–27). The last time we see Martha, she’s again preparing a meal, but this time she doesn’t protest that Mary isn’t helping (12:1–2). Perhaps she’d learned the importance of the “one” thing (Luke 10:41–42)—listening to, learning from, and worshiping Jesus.
Alyson Kieda |
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TWFYT:
UR: The Power of Acceptance
Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to [Bartimaeus], “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” - Mark 10:49 (NIV)
I often recall our eldest daughter’s deep emotional pain and disappointment when a group of adolescent girls rejected her. I suspect if one girl in the group had supported her, she might have been accepted by the whole group. Few of us understand the powerful influences that we can have, either for good or for evil, in group settings.
In Mark 10, we read the story of blind Bartimaeus, who was expendable in the crowd’s eyes. But when Jesus showed compassion and respect for him, others began to see Bartimaeus’s worth as well. Their rebuking tone changed to one of acceptance because of Jesus’ respect for Bartimaeus. They called to Bartimaeus, “Cheer up! On your feet! [Jesus] is calling you.”
It takes courage to accept and love those who have been rejected by society. But we are called to follow Jesus’ example of showing compassion for all. As we love those whom our peers deem unworthy, it will empower our peers to follow our example.
TODAY'S PRAYER
Father God, sometimes it’s not easy to accept and love those who are disrespected by others. Through your grace provide us with courage to love all people. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
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