Good morning Lord Jesus, I surrender all , so that I can receive all from you.
“Arise! Shine! For your light arrives!
The splendor of the LORD shines on you!
For, look, darkness covers the earth
and deep darkness covers the nations,
but the LORD shines on you;
his splendor appears over you.
Nations come to your light,
kings to your bright light. (Isaiah 60:1-3)
When Isaiah walked the earth and looked out at his world approximately 3,000 years ago a deep darkness covered his world and his nation as well. Isaiah’s answer was not for the people of God in his time to retreat from the darkness, withdraw and isolate from the deep darkness, but to arise and go out and shine, and be beacons of light that drives out the darkness
Approximately 800 years after Isaiah and 2,000 years ago Jesus walked the earth and when He looked around the world, his nation was occupied by a foreign army and a deep darkness of sin covered his nation and the world. Like Isaiah, Jesus’ answer was not for his followers to isolate themselves, withdraw in their churches, and withdraw from society. But to be His light, one that illuminates and turns back darkness. Jesus said,“You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden. People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:1516)
Looking at the news today, you probably get the sense that the world, our nation appears to be a scarier, darker place: War in Iran, War in The Ukrain, ICE shootings, hate and polorization increasing. And what is the answer today? For us to isolate, withdraw from the world, social isolate ourselves inside out homes and churches? No, it is same answer of Isaiah and of Jesus. We are called to go out and light our world. Be a light in the darkness. And darkness being a metaphor for pain, be a source of light, love, hope, and joy in the lives of our neighbors and communities.
My family, you are the light of the world. Because the same light of the Lord that both Isaiah and Jesus declared shines in you! You carry the splendor, power, and glory of God in you! I pray you fall on your knees and claim this same mantle of authority over your life. I pray then you rise, walk out your door and enter into darkness, enter into the pain in this world, and bring and be a beacon of light, healing, hope and Joy. What better way is there as we remember the life and passion of Jesus and our God who “so loved the world” during Lent then to imitate Jesus and go out and “so love the world”, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
I would love for you to please share your reflections with myself or others using the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
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My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
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Look, the LORDʼs hand is not too weak to deliver you;
his ear is not too deaf to hear you.
But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God;
your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers.
For your hands are stained with blood and your fingers with sin;
your lips speak lies, your tongue utters malicious words.
No one is concerned about justice;
no one sets forth his case truthfully.
They depend on false words and tell lies;
they conceive of oppression and give birth to sin. (Isaiah 59:.1-4)
In chapter 57 Isaiah condemned Israel for its turning to false God’s and the decline and absence of leaders who are righteous and have a heart for God. In chapter 58 he points out their hypocritical fasting and religious acts that instead of bringing God pleasure, actually disgust him. In chapter 59 Isaiah points to their lack of any desire of justice and honesty in their lives and treatment of others.
Each of these chapters speaks about prayer. In chapter 57 it was not answered because it was not addressed to the true God (57:13 but to other idols in their lives as well. In chapter 58 God ignores their prayers because the petitioners are hypocrites (58:4) putting on a fake religious “show” for themselves while acting in sin towards others. Here in chapter 59 their prayers are not heard because they pray for justice for themselves, while they lie to and don’t treat those around them with justice.
When we communicate with someone, we know if they are “fake” with us and if effects our response to them. If you find out a co-worker is spreading lies about you and trying to make you look bad to others, and then we they see you they compliment you, it means nothing to you. If you know your spouse is cheating on you, and they come home after a liaison with their lover and say they missed you while they were away and they love you, it makes your stomach turn. If a friend breaks a date with you and lies and says they were sick, and you find out they went out with others instead and did not include you, then call you the next day asking for a favor you are hurt and resentful.
Prayer is our communication with God. All these things I mentioned above that effect our feelings and responses to others: honesty, respect, faithfulness, integrity, love, commitment, caring; somehow we feel do not effect God’s response to us. Isaiah is saying here; we know that the way we treat others is important to that relationship and impacts it. Why don’t we feel the same way about our relationship with God? Will God always love you, yes. But treating your spouse or parents like crap and taking advantage of them because you know they will always love you and be there for you is a pretty crappy way to respond to their love. It is also a pretty crappy way to respond to God’s love for you.
My family, I pray you will take a few moments today and let God know, that though you may not have said it in a while. that you do love him. I pray you will take a few moments today and let Jesus know, that though you may not have said it in a while. that you do love him. Then sit and listen to to the Holy Spirit as he speaks into your soul with their response, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
“Look, at the same time you fast, you satisfy your selfish desires,
you oppress your workers. Look, your fasting is accompanied by arguments, brawls, and fistfights. Is this really the kind of fasting I want?...
Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves,
bowing their heads like a reed
and stretching out on sackcloth and ashes?
Is this really what you call a fast,
a day that is pleasing to the Lord” (Isaiah" 58: 3-5)
I have told you that ISAIAH 58 is my go yo chapter in the Bible on fasting. In it Isaiah addresses religion, fasting, and the Sabbath. God begins by declaring, and not in a calm voice but at the top of his lungs, that formal religion does not make a difference in human relationships, and can actually lead to the development of complacency and pride. He speaks against the faithfulness and following of religion and religious practices that are superficial, simply routine, and that people do to be seen as “part of the church crowd” and not of their heart. Persons who practice these assume they are people of God because of these superficial practices, because “they attend church,” because of their tradition and heritage. But because it is not from the heart (which God sees and knows) these practices do not extend to or impact the way they treat other people, especially people who do not have the same power, resources, or are not part of their “In” church crowd. The only reason they have received grace in the first place is to share it with others and allow that grace to flow out of them, true worshippers of God, to everyone around them and make people who do not know God think, “I want that grace that they have.”
Isaiah declares that though people claim or think that their religious practices and purposes are to win special favor with God, their real reason or motive is to gain favor and an advantage in todays dog-eat-dog world and struggle to gain success, possessions, position and power. Is this why God instituted forms of religion? No! God instituted them to be symbols of an attitude of submission, surrender, and trust, that will form a change in the heart and behavior of his people. Without that attitude which is evident in one's life by a change of heart and behavior, the forms of religion then are not sources of divine pleasure to God, but of divine disgust.
My family, I pray you reflect on this morning, Why do you do the forms of religion you do? Why do you read the Bible, attend Sunday church, hang a cross on your wall or around your neck, and pray? Is it to make you feel good about yourself, part of the in crowd, please your spouse or another family member or a source of pride that is hoping God will bless you with a better job, more possessions and an easier more comfortable life? Or are you doing them to create in you a heart and behavior of surrender and submission that those forms of religion where intended to create? One that allows you to imitate Jesus and his heart and enables you to do as God desires of you which is, “I want you to share your food with the hungry and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people. When you see someone naked, clothe him! Donʼt turn your back on your own flesh and blood!”V.7 Prthaps you need to Fast and pray today and get real with your motives and your God, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
I want to encourage to to please take 3 minutes to watch this this video below that wonderfully speaks into the “In Church Crowd” and convicts me every time I watch it.
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
“Thus says the Lord:
“Keep justice, and do righteousness
for soon my salvation will come,
and my righteousness be revealed” v. 1
Isaiah is an amazing book. I hope you can see by are time already spent in it why it has such a great theological impact on the New Testament.
As a side note, the word “Theology” comes from two Greek words: “Theos” meaning ‘God”, and “Logos” meaning “Word.” So Christian theology is simply an attempt to understand God as He is revealed in the Bible. When you hear some talk about the theology of a book, section, or passage of the Bible, they are asking what is what we are reading trying to teach us or reveal to us about God. And a Theologian, is simply a person who invests time and wrestles with discovering and discerning these revelations from God. In our house churches when after reading a bible passage and we ask each other; “What does this passage teach us about God?” “What does it teach us about his relationship to people? We are actually looking into the theology of that passage. So above when I said, “why it (Isaiah) has such a great theological impact on the New Testament.” I am saying that the Jews had an understanding of God and the “Servant” from their reading of Isaiah. This understanding of God and the Servant, was the “lens” through which the Jews, as well as the apostles, Paul, and James experienced Jesus, and God through Jesus, and it comes out in their Gospels and letters. It also comes out in the teachings of Jesus. So it is important to understand this “lens” they are looking through, to understand some of what they experienced and wrote. Just like understanding the “lens” though which someone sees God: in the Church of Christ, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Jehovah Witness, Holiness, Baptist, Morman..ect will give you an insight into how they experience and understand God.
After reading the first 55 chapters, and the closing truths of chapter 55, you would think, Why add anything more? What could possibly be added to the promise of return to their land and the forgiveness of their sins, both by the pure grace of God? What theological understanding did Isaiah feel needed yet to be shared in the last 10 chapters? The central idea of Isaiah I believe is the necessity in the living out of God’s righteousness, given to us by grace as explained in the previous chapters, and the inability of failure of people to do it. Isaiah also looks at the question, What qualifies a person to be among God’s elect? Is it a matter of grace by reason of ones birthright or is it a matter of works?
This whole book flows out of chapter 6 when a “man of unclean lips” sees something of the holy glory of God, receives a fiery cleansing from God, then steps out is trust and obedience to proclaim to Israel the message that there is only One Holy God. In chapters 56-66, Isaiah looks at what happens when “people of unclean lips” get a vision of God, receive grace, forgiveness, and deliverance, and are now enabled to live as God lives.
The grace of God in delivering from uncleanness is not simply for the servants, for only those in the churches enjoyment but in order for the word to get out to all that there is only One Holy God, one righteous Savior and that the whole world needs to know him. The grace of God is free, but those who receive it are called to live it out and all its implications in their life, And there is the problem. It has been demonstrated throughout history over and over people cannot live out their God’s character. Are those who have been delivered from their sins by the grace of God simply doomed to ruin God’s name over and over again? Does the salvation of God involve something more? Is there power in God to enable one to live out the covenant to God in faithfulness-not a power one has gained in oneseslf, but a power that one can constantly draw from God? The answer Isaiah gives in these last 10 chapters is a resounding, YES!! Those who choose to make the Servant an offering for sin may also find in him the power to live the lives of the servants of God.
56:1-8 makes it shockingly clear those who are those servants especially pleasing to God. It is not those who are in the blood line of Abraham. Those who maintain the basic cultic way and religion that define the people. His people are anyone who reveals a loving relationship with him by living his life. It is not to whom or where you were born, but character that marks a servant of God.
My family, You have all received the amazing grace of God. I pray you will reflect this morning and seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance for the ability live out the grace you have received in your daily life:: in your families, neighborhood, workplace, schools, and where ever you day takes you, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
The godly perish,
but no one cares.
Honest people disappear,
when no one minds
that the godly disappear because of evil.
The righteous man perishes,
and no one lays it to heart;
devout men are taken away,
while no one understands.
For the righteous man is taken away from calamity (Isaiah 57:1)
These words hit home today. Isaiah is pointing out that the leaders and leadership in the church and society have lost the sense of spiritual direction and truth that should give meaning to their lives, and they have settled for what always rushes in to fill a spiritual vacuum, the desires of the flesh. The result is a downward spiral for them and those around them. As they become more concerned in pampering themselves and in trying to find meaning in pleasure, the become less able to warn their people, and their lives become more meaningless.
The end is that they become stuck in a rut spiritually and physically, they find themselves repeating the same monotonous tasks and religious routines over and over. We will do tomorrow what we did today.
Those who are supposed to lead the church, lead their communities, and lead their families; are caught in a spiral of increasing concern for their own comfort, satisfaction, and pleasure and are unaware of its result. And because of their failure in leadership, people are caught in the same trap and are unequally unaware of what is happening. What is happening? The righteous person is disappearing from society: faithful men (and women) are dying off and disappearing. And hardly anyone notices it, and those that do notice, do not stop in their consumer driven life long enough to take it to heart. Isaiah states that if they would stop and think about it for a moment, they would see that it is because of evil, and a result of evil that it is happening.
Isaiah wrote this about Israel over 2,500 years ago, and it rings true in Huntsville and Madison today. I may nod and agree with this statement, but what am I going to do about it? Am I going to nod and say it is a shame and continue in my frantic consumer-driven schedule, or am I going to listen to Isaiah’s cry, a cry that comes from the heart of God and take what is happening to heart. Society does not need any more blind, selfish, gluttonous leaders. It needs righteous leaders, but it is they who are disappearing.
My family, I pray you take time to pray throughout the day and take to heart what kind of leaders we are. This is something during this Lent Season that deserves Fasting and Prayer over.. Re-read Isaiah 58 on fasting over this., in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God Bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Good morning Jesus,I need your Spirit to draw me to embrace you this morning , so I cn embrace others throughout my day.
Stop and read the 12 verses of Isaiah 53
Who would have believed what we just heard?
When was the Lord’s power revealed through him? V. 1
The nations will be shocked because they have never heard of a deliver who would be willing to humble himself and fall so low in order to save and deliver the people he rules over. Who could have believed that when the “arm of the Lord” was made known and came to deliver his people it would look like this? The answer is, no one. The shocking essence of the Servant is expanded to include the entire unexpected nature of his ministry.
This man does not fit our picture of God’s deliverer at all. We are not drawn to him or his plans, “He was treated harshly and afflicted, but he did not even open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block.” V.7, rather we are repulsed by him and his plans that we are to pick up a cross as well and follow him..
Jesus’ birth did not shake the Roman Empire. He was not born in a palace destined to be a military leader, he was born in the back of some stable of a village Inn. The revelation of him to the world did not take place in a coronation ceremony with trumpets blasting and crowds cheering. It was simply that of a man quietly coming to the great evangelist of the day, out in the wilderness, and asking to him be baptized. We were expecting a costumed drum major to lead a triumphal parade. We got a broken man carrying a cross. Our eyes get caught up in and prefer superficial splendor. This man, says Isaiah, will have none of that.
“He was despised and rejected by people….v3” He was considered someone worthless, unworthy of attention. In the eyes of the world, He is not one of the winners, he is one of the losers. And losers can not deliver other losers. Thus the revelation of the Servant of the Lord who will deliver the Lord’s people is met with shock, astonishment, distaste, avoidance, and dismissed.
Yet in this Servant, God has found a way to both gratify his love and satisfy his justice.
Isaiah 53 is an amazing premonition, written thousands of years before the birth of Jesus, of who are servant savior would be. It is a revelation of both the extreme love and the extreme justice that is at the heart of God’s desire to save his people, and the instrument through which he will save his people, the Servant, Jesus Christ.
I have spent time in “church” today. This chapter has drawn me to read it over and over. And I could write pages of thoughts on it that are filling my heart and head. I shared just a little of them. I would love to hear your thoughts and revelations from this chapter.
My family, I pray as you read today this chapter that reveals one man’s revelation of who the servant savior of the world will be, you will take time to reflect on who the servant savior, Jesus, is to you. Are you repulsed by Him and His plans that you are to pick up a cross as well, humble yourself, fall low, and follow him? Or are you embracing Him and His plan? And if so, how does your life reveal that you embrace Him and his plan, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Good morning Jesus, Let your Spirit blow on me and through me to breath live into me as I begin my day
“This is what the LORD, the protector of Israel, their Holy One, says
to the one who is despised and rejected by nations, a servant of rulers:“ (Isaiah 49:7)
Isaiah’s focus on this theme of “a servant”is not on presenting servants as we generally think of them. “Servants” as people who are passive and weak, who’s destruction and captivity is evidence of the failure and inability to be delivered by the lesser gods they followed. In this chapter Isaiah introduces to us the “Servant,” the true representation of Israel, who comes with power and who will be God’s agent and bring His covenant to the people and restore justice to all the nations. This Servant of Israel will Himself lead Isreal and it’s people to become what they had always desired to be.
The mighty hand of God is about to be revealed in His deliver of Israel. But instead of it being a military, armor bearing,, laced boot, ass-kicking destroyer of the enemies of the nations, he will be a tender plant, a shoot off Jesse’s root (11:1), an apparent failure, a meek lamb to be slaughtered, However, he will be the one to atone for the sins of the nation and those of the world. And beginning here and in the chapters to follow, salvation is no longer something to be anticipated and longed for but now Israel is being invited to participate in something that has already been achieved. What is the means it will be achieved? The substitutionary death of the Servant for Israel and the world.
God has said that the lives of His people in Israel, because of the atoning sacrifice of the Servant, would be the evidence to the world that he alone is the Holy One. Our lives as people of God, because of the atoning sacrifice of the Servant, who’s name we know, Jesus, are to be the evidence to those we encounter in our daily life that God alone is the Holy one and Jesus is Lord. What God revealed to Isaiah and which Isaiah then spoke about as a future prophecy to come, Jesus confirmed, spoke into and lived out in reality:
As we near the end of another week of Lent, Isaiah’s prophecy speaks into the season to reflect on and praying over the saving acts of our suffering servant, who became our sacrificial lamb on the cross, and by His resurrection, this servant became our savior and redeemer,
My family, Jesus“ main characteristic by which He was known was that of a servant. God sent Him into the world to serve. In Lent, we not only give up things and fast to re-connect with Jesus, we take on ways of serving our neighbors as well. As Jesus said, “Just as the Father sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world…. “I am not praying only on their behalf, but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their testimony…. so that the world will believe that you sent me.” ( John 17:18-22). I pray as the weekend nears you will seek out and enter into ways to serve those in your community this weekend and be a tangible example of the sacrificial love of Christ in their lives, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Good morning Lord Jesus, I rest in your peace this morning as I need your peace as I begin my week.
“For a child has been a born to us, a son has been given to us.
He shoulders responsibility and is called:
Wonderful counselor
Mighty God, (God is Warrior)
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace. (And to peace there will be no end)
His dominion will be vast and he will bring immeasurable prosperity.
He will rule on Davidʼs throne and over Davidʼs kingdom,
establishing it and strengthening its by promoting justice and fairness,
from this time forward and forevermore.
The Lord ʼs intense devotion (Zeal) to his people will accomplish this. (“ Isaiah 9:.6-7)
I call the prophet Isaiah “The prophet of Lent”. Isaiah’s message, teaching and prophecies speak into, point to, predict, describe and prophesies on Jesus as the Son of God, the root of Jessie, the Suffering servant, the lamb of God, and the cross. And they were were spoken and written 700 years before the birth of Jesus.
These verses in Isaiah written over 700 years before the birth of Jesus also contain one of the most remarkable prophesy’s of Isaiah on the birth Immanuel. That somehow a virgin-born child would demonstrate that God is with us. Isaiah says, “A child is born to us…” in doing so he admits his sin and includes himself with all people in the need of deliverance. And I include myself as well. The child is presented as the ultimate fulfillment of the Immanuel sign.
Wonderful counselor (Extraordinary stategist): throughout Isaiah we read of the failing of human wisdom as folly, and it’s failing, and deceiving has been shown. By contrast, the Coming One, the “Wonderful Counselor” has a great depth of wisdom. True wisdom that knows in weakness there is strength, in surrender there is victory, and in death there is life.
Mighty God (God is a Warrior) the coming Immanuel will have God’s true might. His true power so great he can absorb all the evil which Satan and his demons hurl against him until he has nothing left to hurl, then defeat and crush his enemy.
Everlasting Father: Some kings have claimed to be :the father of their people”, but this was only temporary. Immanuel’s fatherhood would be forever. A fatherhood that does not impose itself on his children, but rather sacrifices himself for them.
Prince of Peace: It is fitting that after all we read, hear and know of the chaos, disruption, and warring of other kings and rulers, the last title given Immanuel is Prince of Peace. He is a peaceful king. One we know now because of our understanding of the cross, did not establish his peace by brutally squashing all defiance, by the means and example of complete transparency and vulnerability which makes defiance pointless. Some how through Immanuel’s reconciliation between God and man, there is now the possibility of reconciliation between man and man.
“from this time forward and forevermore” Isaiah has an eschatological (study of end times) figure in mind in his prophecy. This king will not be another king among kings in the list of kings of Israel. He will be the final king, the king to end all kings, the king of all kings!
To all above I have written I say Amen! Amen!!!
My family, as you I pray you reflect during Lent you will meditate on these verses in Isaiah and affirm your understanding of the presence of Immanuel in your life today, because He is in your life today, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Partner with us as the year begins!
As we begin the year, if you have the ability to be generous, I invite you to partner with me, my wife, and One Direction Community to support our ministries of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over our ministries and outreaches into our community. We would be so grateful for your one time gift or monthly support. Thank you!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
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Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
“A ship in a harbor is safe, but that is not what ships were made for.” ―Anonymous
I was so blessed to have spent time with Neil Cole, author and missionologist, with a heart for missional discipleship, in Atlanta a couple years ago. Myself and others from ODC spent a year going through the 100 Movements Training with Neil, Allen Hirsch, and others. My time in Tampa reminded me and restored in me our call and commission by the Holy Spirit to be “sent ones.” In reflecting on The Holy Spirits attribute of “sendinding”, one of Neal’s writings comes to my mind. In it he talks about the Queen Mary.
“The Queen Mary sits prominently in one of the busiest harbors of the world. She has been there for five decades, unmoved. The Queen Mary is a hotel, encased in a rock jetty. Tourists come to Long Beach, CA and love to see this famous attraction. But visitors are only seeing a faint shadow of the ship she once was. She was once the finest cruise liner on the seven seas. During World War 2 she was used to transport injured military personnel. The Queen Mary was meant to be out on the high seas, but now she is on the AAA’s list of three-and-a-half star hotels. She remindeds me of a hollowed-out leader who only dreams of glories long past.
We are all familiar with the tragedy of the Titanic, but the Queen Mary is another sort of tragedy. If I had to choose a destiny, I would rather go out in glory on my maiden voyage like the Titanic than be stuck rusting in a harbor, never to make another ripple in the ocean. Award winning movies are made of the Titanic’s story, not the Queen Mary’s.”
Henry David Thoreau once said, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.” There is nothing sadder then a beautiful song that is never sung. Many of our lives are beautiful songs yet to be sung. Many of us are like the Queen Mary—safe, secure, and not what we were meant to be. Many of us settle for lesser lives, for stories not worth telling. We are being called to a higher story, a bigger tale that will be told to future generations.
The Lord of the Rings is an epic battle of good versus evil where simple folk win the day against overwhelming odds––because they had each other and a cause worth dying for. In one scene, looking off at the ruins Sam said, “It’s like the great stories, Mr. Frodo, the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end, because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?”
His spirits lifted as he went on, “But in the end it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folks in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going because they were holding on to something.”
“What are we holding onto, Sam?” Frodo sighed, still recovering from the near defeat of the previous moment. Sam, determined to help his brother whom he would gladly die for, lifted Frodo to his feet, looked him sternly in the eyes, and said, “That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for.”
We all need a friend like Sam when we face the overwhelming odds in this battle. We also need to be a friend like Sam. The struggle against the evil that dominates this world is bad enough; to go through this fight alone is too much. We must have a small band of brothers and sisters who would give their lives for us, for the cause…for Jesus. We need to be such people. We all need something important enough, worthy enough to give our lives for. There is conflict. There is evil that wants to destroy you. There will be pain and loss in this battle with evil, but the struggle is worth it. Any great story has conflict; that is what makes the story worth the telling.
There would not be three major motion pictures, dozens of Oscars, and a billion dollars in revenue if there was no struggle involved with the Lord of the Rings stories. If the Hobbits never left home, but stayed in the Shire, under the party tree smoking pipe weed, we would not really be all that interested in the stories. The conflict makes the struggle compelling!
If we can stick together and pull each other through, much like Sam and Frodo, If we can defeat the enemy and win this war. “If God is for us, who can be against us?!” (Romans 8:31) There will be great stories to tell our children’s children. These are the days where stories of waitresses, retired engineers, high school kids, nurses, blue-collar workers, and simple gardeners, like Sam, in the power of the Holy Spirit, overcome incredible evil to bring change and hope back to humanity.”
As I read the above writting of Neil, I want to remind you that you were filled with the Holy Spirit and created for good works that have been foreordained by God for the destruction of evil strongholds and to set captives free! Do not settle for rusting in the harbor over the decades of your life. Please don’t! Set sail on the oceans of risk and let God lead you to stories that are worthy of being told, worthy of dying for, because God is worthy of It.
The great American author Mark Twain once commented, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
Take 10 minutes now and watch the video by Francis Chan below on being sent in the Spirit. It was made to accompany chapter six of his book "The Forgotten God," but it ties perfectly with my final message on the Holy Spirit on sending
This is number 24 of 24 reflections of mine on the attributes the Holy Spirit. I had a few interuptions in life while writing them. However, I pray it has encouraged, convicted, and motivated you to obediently press into the life, full of the Holy Spirit you have been wonderfully created by God to live out. Please share any reflections or comments on this message or this time spent looking at the Holy Spirit below in the comment box below. Also, I would appreciate all comments and feedback on these past 24 messages on the Holy Spirit either below in the comments box, or privately to me at garyl@onedirection.community . God bless you my friends!
Much love!
Gary
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
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Good evening Lord Jesus, I seek to begin this day in that peace that passes all my understandings that can only come when I find myself in Your spirit’s presence.
One of the ways the Holy Spirit works in an throuh us is when we open ourslves to Him though prayer and fasting. Lent is a good time to reflect on this. Isaiah 58 is my favorite chapter in the Bible on fasting. As we enter the first full week of Lent I spent time re-reading it/ I also included it below in "The Message" translation. Read it today as you begin your day. Maybe you can read it today in place of eating lunch and meditate on it. Verses 6-9 state:
“This is the kind of fast day I’m after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts.
As you read these verses, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you areas of your life and relationships where you are intentionally or unknowingly a source of injustice, exploitation, oppression, and debt to others. To reveal areas where you are hoarding, glutinous, selfish and self-seeking. Ask the Spirit also to reveal to you areas in your heart and mind are scars from when you have been a victim of these acts and attitudes that forgiveness and healing needs to take place to break their chains and control over you, Reflecting on all these things is what is at the heart of Fasting, In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends.
Share any insights, revelations, and reflections from your day of fasting as a comment to this post.
Isaiah 58The Message (MSG)
58
1-3 “Shout! A full-throated shout!
Hold nothing back—a trumpet-blast shout!
Tell my people what’s wrong with their lives,
face my family Jacob with their sins!
They’re busy, busy, busy at worship,
and love studying all about me.
To all appearances they’re a nation of right-living people—
law-abiding, God-honoring.
They ask me, ‘What’s the right thing to do?’
and love having me on their side.
But they also complain,
‘Why do we fast and you don’t look our way?
Why do we humble ourselves and you don’t even notice?’
3-5
“Well, here’s why:
“The bottom line on your ‘fast days’ is profit.
You drive your employees much too hard.
You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight.
You fast, but you swing a mean fist.
The kind of fasting you do
won’t get your prayers off the ground.
Do you think this is the kind of fast day I’m after:
a day to show off humility?
To put on a pious long face
and parade around solemnly in black?
Do you call that fasting,
a fast day that I, God, would like?
6-9
“This is the kind of fast day I’m after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts.
What I’m interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’
9-12
“If you get rid of unfair practices,
quit blaming victims,
quit gossiping about other people’s sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
firm muscles, strong bones.
You’ll be like a well-watered garden,
a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You’ll be known as those who can fix anything,
restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
make the community livable again.
13-14
“If you watch your step on the Sabbath
and don’t use my holy day for personal advantage,
If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy,
God’s holy day as a celebration,
If you honor it by refusing ‘business as usual,’
making money, running here and there—
Then you’ll be free to enjoy God!
Oh, I’ll make you ride high and soar above it all.
I’ll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob.”
Yes! God says so!
WHAT IS LENT?
This past Wednesday February 18th was Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the season of Lent in The Church. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and ends 47 days later with Holy Week and Easter Sunday. Lent is one of my favorite seasons and Holy Week is my favorite week ov the year. For those not familiar with Lent you may ask;
"But what is Lent?"
At Jesus' baptism the sky split open, the Spirit of God, which looked like a dove, descended and landed on Jesus, and a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, My Beloved, with whom I am pleased." Afterward, as told in Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus was sent into the wilderness by the Spirit. Where he fasted and prayed for 40 days. During his time there he was tempted by Satan and found clarity, and through payer connection with the Holy Spirit he received the strength to resist temptation and carry out his mission. Afterward this time away of fasting and prayer, he was ready to begin his ministry. Maybe Jesus needed some time with God to sort through the major changes happening in his life. Maybe he needed to get away from family, friends and the familiar routine in order to see God (and himself) more clearly. Perhaps he wanted some intentional time with God as he searched for direction and answers. Like Jesus, we need in life to take some serious time away to pray and listen for God. Lent is designed to be that time.
During Lent, most Christians use three things as aides to help them focus, listen and pray to God. Those three tings are: Fasting, Service/taking on things, and Prayer
FASTING: Some fast by going without food one day or more a week. Some fast by skipping a meal each day and instead feeding them selves physically, use that hour to feed themselves spiritually by praying during that time. But that's not the only way to fast. You can fast by cutting out some of the things in your life that distract you from God. Some Christians use the whole 40 days to fast from candy, tv, soft drinks, cigarettes or meat as a way to purify their bodies and lives. Or you can give up some activity for all of Lent or selected days a week like Facebook, Tic Toc, other social media, Gaming, Netflix or other reality tv to spend time outside enjoying God’s creation and re-connecting with God. What do you need to let go of or “fast” from in order to focus on God? What clutters your calendar and life? How can you simplify your life in terms of what you eat, wear or do? Read Isaiah chapter 58
SERVICE: Some Christians take something on to reconnect with Christ. You can prioritize more times set aside to read your Bible. You can collect food for the needy, volunteer once a week to tutor children, serve at an outreach ministry in your community or work for reform and justice in your community. You can commit to help a different stranger, co-worker or friend every day of Lent. Serving others is one way we serve God. Read Isaiah chapter 58.
PRAYER: Christians also use Lent as a time of intentional prayer. You can set aside times to pray daily, prayer walk your neighborhood, use the Prayer Wheel daily, create music or art as a prayer to God, or savor a time of quiet listening. There are also many devotion books that can guide you through Lent All can be ways of becoming more in tune with God. Read Isaiah chapter 58. (As you can tell Isaiah chapter 58 is my go to chapter in the Bible for fasting)
My family, I pray you will use the season of Lent to reconnect and recommit to you relationship with Jesus. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
PS: Are we all busy, Absolutely. However, Can I make time to talk to you? Absolutely. The deep reflections of Lent can bring out many emotions in people. Need to talk? Call me. My door is always open, the coffee pot is always on and my sofa is always warm and a place of peace and non-judgment. Any who needs to chat are welcome to contact me anytime. It's no good suffering in silence. I have cold drinks in the fridge...tea & coffee in the cupboard and I will always be here....You are never not welcome!! Starbucks and Waffle House are open and a place to talk. You never have to go through a day of addiction, depression, fear, frustration, or anxieties of life alone. It's always good to talk but its even better to listen, and to be listened to. Some days this hits closer to home than we think. I'll always lend an ear and a shoulder and my heart. My hands are always ready to raise in prayer. Where ever you are, if you are struggling with anything and need to talk, go to your church, call a friend or family member.
Please share your reflections and comments in the comment box below.
Resolve to Help in 2026
I want to ask you to resolve this year in partnering with my wife, myself, and One Direction Community by supporting our ministries! We begin a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this. If you click on the link below you can easily set up a weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly auto donations in the amount you desire. . We would be so grateful for your help. You can also give a one-time donation on the same link. Thank you!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
You can mail your donation to One Direction Community P.O. Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758
Discipleship Training.
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
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Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning Lord Jesus, wash me with your Spirit this morning and refreshen and renew my soul!
The Holy Spirit is a gift given to us by God to help conform us into the image of God in Jesus Christ. One of main way’s the Holy Spirit does this is by putting us into places where we are confronted by the truth of our lives. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life…” (John 14:1). If becoming a disciple of Jesus means that my life needs to closely imitate his life, then the truth in my life: spiritually, physically, relationally, needs to closely imitate Jesus Christ. The role of the Holy Spirit is that of comforter, but before the Holy Spirit can be our Holy comforter, he first needs to be our Holy confronter.
The Holy Spirit uses every opportunity to confront us and conform our lives into the truth of Christ. He uses Scripture to speak through us and relate the truths of God written in the pages to areas of our lives and reveal were truth is present and where it is lacking. He also uses our prayer time when we open ourselves up to him and honestly let him speak into the secret places in our lives, that are not really a secret to him. “Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 23:23-24)
Another major way The Holy Spirit speaks truth into our lives and holds us accountable to truth is through others in the body, in the relationship of deep, holy accountability. It may seem like an oxymoron, but we places our lives more completely into the hands of God, by placing our lives into the hands of others. There is a familiar verse to most Christians where Jesus tells us, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (Matthew 18:20). When you read the passage, look at the context this verse is contained in, you will see that Jesus is refereeing here to deep, holy, accountability.
I shared earlier the remark by Jay Leno, “I will do anything to get a great and perfect body except eat healthy and exercise.” We laugh when we read this because we know that getting a great and healthy body is simple, it requires eating right and exercising. It is simple, but it is not easy. To become a disciple of Jesus is simple as well. It requires consistent reading of Scriptures, prayer, serving our neighbors, and holy accountability. Simple, but not easy. I am absolutely convinced in my time in ministry that the one thing that ensures all four are present in one’s life is Holy Accountability. The only thing that will prevent me from being the man in James 1:22-24, who looks in the mirror in the morning and says, “What a good Christian am I.” then lives his life in the flesh and a worldly manner, is accountability.
It is in the weekly gathering with one or two other people that true accountability takes place. Where someone asks you, “How is it with you soul?” “Have you read your Bible this week?” “Have you prayed?” “How have you seen God at work by serving those around you?” Close accountability allows others, who pray for you daily to see, hear, and confirm how they see the Holy Spirit working in your life and speak into it.
Close relationships with your spouse is something to strive for and nourish, but your one or two accountability partners need to be of same gender so you can honestly bring forth all your struggles, and they can relate to it.
Who are the one or two persons in your life that you are in deep accountability with? Who pray for you daily? Who you can call at anytime of the day or not with a struggle or a praise? Who know you well enough to speak truth into your life?
Read James 1:22-25,
Watch the following short 5 minute video by Francis Chan on being open and accountable to others. If you could not immediately name the one or two persons in your accountability group, (not Bible Study, small group, or church class, but one or two people you meet with weekly strictly for accountability) then pray to the Holy Spirit to lead you to the one or two persons you are to call and ask to be in accountability with you. I challenge you to do this by the end of the week. If you do not know how to get started, I have created a couple page guide with information and an outline for accountability groups we use at One Direction Community I would be glad to send you. in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God Bless you my friends!
Please share you comments with us in the comment box below!
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I would appreciate your prayer and also any support for support myself as we reach our neighbors with the gospel through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
TO GIVE , CLICK HERE
Good morning Lord Jesus, Father and Holy Spirit. This morning I claim my place in union with you and receive all of your blessings that flow in that union.
The gift of the Holy Spirit we received through our faith in Jesus Christ sealed us in our adoption as children of God.
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God, these are of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery to fear again, but you received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are of God, and if children, also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, indeed we suffer with that we may also be glorified with.” (Romans 8:14-17)
“Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed His name, He gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:12)
What does it mean to live as God’s child? It means to live as if I’m loved and cherished. It means to live as if I know that every need will be taken care of. It means to live as if I can go to my Father with every fear, anxiety, and hurt. It means to live as if I can go to my Father with every joyful moment, every tiny thing that excites me, and every new tidbit of information that makes me laugh. It means to live as if I have inherited my Father’s kingdom.
Because I have!!!!.
I belong and it’s time to start living like it.
My family, I pray you will read Gal. 4:3-7; Rom. 8:1-17, Ezekiel 11:17-20, Luke 23:42-43, John 1:12. Then pray to the Holy Spirit for an assurance of your adoption into the Kingdom of God. Pray for an assurance of your identity as a son or daughter of the Father. Pray for the confidence and boldness to start living as a son or daughter of the Kingdom. Whom shall you fear when you are His?
Please share your thoughts, questions or prayers as a comment below.
Much love!!
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
In July I will step out of pastoring Toney UMC and pour completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Thank YouI!
TO GIVE , CLICK HERE
Good morning Lord Jesus, as I begin a new work week the first thing I desire to be worked on is me by your Spirit..
The word “law” comes from the Hebrew word ‘Torah.” Torah means more than just law. It also means teaching, or instruction handed down from someone to another. Torah, the Law, has a narrative about it, a story that is at the source of it's instruction. The story from which the Law of the Old Testament flows out of is this statement by God,” I am the Lord your God.“ God begins with these words constantly whenever he begins giving instructions to someone. Just a few examples of many are:
“I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac.” (Genesis 28:12)
“I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” (Exodus 6:7)
The prologue of God giving the 10 Commandments is:
“And God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:1-2)
The law then is instruction and teaching that centers around understanding who the Lord God is, what he requires, and how we are to live under the lordship of God. It also reveals what we are to look like as disciples of God. Jesus Christ was the culmination, the completion of the narrative, the story of the law. In the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we received the ultimate, perfect instruction, teaching and understanding of how we are to live under the Lordship of God. He gave us an actual example of the fulfillment of the law, not written on tablets of stone, but lived out in human flesh.
When we accepted Christ as Lord of our lives, we were filled with the Holy Spirit, and we also then had the law fulfilled in us not written on tablets of stone, but in our hearts. It is the indwelling of Jesus Christ in us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that we now have the fulfillment of the law in us. The narrative of the law, the story of the Lordship of God continues in us as we are to be living examples, teachers, instructors, handing down the stories of God from one to another.
Three main things the Law centered around were: Justice, Compassion and Worship. These three things the life of Jesus also centered around. His life was one centered around justice, compassion, and worship. That is why all the laws hinge on the commandment to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind,” which is worship. And “Love your neighbor as yourself,” which is justice and compassion.
Jesus freely worshipped the Father, brought justice and showed compassion outside of of the religious institutions, traditions, and norms of his culture. He demonstrated what free and radical discipleship looked liked. In the Holy Spirit you are free to worship God, bring justice, and show compassion outside of any religious, tradition, family, or cultural boundaries. You are not only free, but you are designed to exhibit Worship, Justice and Compassion in the most radical, undignified, spontaneous, and child-like ways!!!
My family, Read 2 Corinthians chapter 3, Gal. 4:1-7, Colossians 2:13-23. Then spend time asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what is holding you back from freely, radically, child-like, without any inhibitions, worshipping God, and loving your neighbors with justice and compassion. What traditions, religious practices, misconceptions, are binding you from expressing your love for God, love for Christ and passing on his story to others? in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections, questions, and/or prayers in the comments box below.
Much love!!
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Thank YouI!
TO GIVE , CLICK HERE
Good morning Lord Jesus, I need you to wrap your arms around me this morning so I can wrap my arms around others today.
It was the Holy Spirit working in us, wooing us, placing us in the presence of Christ, before we even knew Christ, that began our “process” of salvation. The Holy Spirit seeking us is grace, a gift from God. It led us to a place of repentance and acceptance by faith of the saving works of Christ on the cross and in his resurrection, which is also a gift of grace. All the power of the Holy Spirit that it took to raise Christ from the dead is available to us and is at work in us in our salvation. And just like we could not initially save our selves, but it was the result of us seeking out the working of the Holy Spirit in us to place us in Christ, we can not daily live out our salvation without daily seeking out the the presence of the Holy Spirit. All the power of the Holy Spirit that was required in our initial salvation, is required for us to daily live out our salvation.
Salvation is not received like a “Thing” that you receive from a giver, then you can possess it and pass it on to another without the giver being present. For instance, If someone gives you a pen, it is yours,. You do not need the person who gave it to you to use it. You can put it in your pocket and walk away and never encounter that person again. Salvation however is found in a covenant relationship with God. You step out of that covenant, and you step out of that saving relationship. Salvation if like a hug, nothing is physically transferred, and when you come out of the hug, you can not take it with you. It is like the covenant relationship of marriage. You could be married to a person, but if you are separated, living in different towns, seeing other people, are you living out your marriage? No. Are you receiving the blessing and joy God intended in marriage? No. Your living into your marriage covenant comes out of your daily love and desire to be with that person. Time spent with them, talking to them, and actively spending and enjoying time in their presence.
Your living out your daily salvation is only possible by your daily relationship with the Father and Son through the Holy Spirit. It flows out of your love and desire to be with God. By actively seeking and spending time with God through the Holy Spirit in prayer, in The Word, and serving and seeking him in those around you. Again, the power and presence of the Holy Spirit needed in my initial salvation, is required for me to experience my daily salvation. I can’t over come my desires of the flesh today without seeking the presence of the Holy Spirit today. I can’t have a relationship with my neighbor today and be able to love him as I love myself without having a relationship with the Holy Spirit today. And I can absolutely forget about loving my enemies, or loving those who curse me without the power of the Holy Spirit. I can’t love my wife or my daughters completely unless I see them through the eyes of God. And the gift of my walking around today in joy and glory because I identify myself as a child of God is only possible by placing myself like a child in the presence of God. John tells us in the beginning of his Gospel, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13) The verbs “Receive” and “believed” are not past tense verbs as we understand in English. Things that happened once. They are verbs that reflect a past action that continues to the present. Those that “receive and continue to receive, those who “believed and continue to believe” have the right, the ability to live as children of God today.
My family, I pray as I have done this morning , you will also spend time in prayer with the Holy Spirit. Reflect on how you are remaining connected to Him. Reflect on how your are living out the daily joy of you salvation. Ask the Holy Spirit to increase in you your longing to be in deep relationship with him. To increase your desire to spend time with him in prayer, reading the word, and seeking him in others, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Read Romans 8:1-17, John 4:14, Joel 2:28-32.
Post any reflections, questions, or prayer requests in the comments block below.
Much love!!!
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I would appreciate your prayer and also any support for support myself as we reach our neighbors with the gospel through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
TO GIVE , CLICK HERE
Good morning Lord Jesus, pour your Holy Spirit into my heart this morning so I can pour hit into those I meet today.
Source of spiritual gifts:
God is at the source of all our gifts, whether spiritual or physical. He can use both through the Spirit to heal, set people free, feed the hungry, bring sight to the blind. We are called to seek out and use both spiritual and physical gifts given by God to transform and do miraculous works in our world. Volunteering to go read to an elementary child with a troubled family, will transform and change that child’s life as praying for wisdom and knowledge over the child. The two work hand in hand.
We all have spiritual gifts, and they are present and available to us today. Healing, prophecy, evangelism, prayer, teaching, shepherding, are all gifts the Holy Spirit desires to give us and use to the glory of God and his Kingdom. They do not however come to us through our physical striving or any of our means. The gifts come to us through means of grace: prayer, time spent in Scriptures, fasting, The Lord’s Supper, and acts of mercy. It is through these things that we receive spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit and practice perfecting them.
The comedian Jay Leno said in one of his monologues, “I will do anything to get a great body except eat a healthy diet and exercise.” It was a joke as we know if we want to be healthy and strong in body we need to priorities time working out and eating right. In the same way gif we want to be Spiritually healthy and strong in the body of Christ, we need to spend time our knees in prayer and in God’s Word. However, like Jay Leno said, We in the church try to see God work around us and receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and we will do anything to experience them except spending time daily in prayer and reading the Bible. Why does the church today not see people filled with the gifts of the spirit like we read about in the first church? I believe it is because people in todays church do not intentionally spend time seeking them.
God wants us to be a church full of power that witnesses acts of God’s moving among us. I want us to be a church that expects workings of God to be a normal, daily occurrence. If you look at places like Africa, China, Iran, and Korea where the church if growing at a remarkable pace, most of it is as the result of healings, prophecies, dreams, evangelistic out pouring of the Spirit, from a church that witnesses from a high expectancy of God’s presence in their lives.
What are your physical gifts and how are your using them to allow people to experience the kingdom of God today? What are your spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit wants you to use in the same way?
My family, I pray you will take some quiet time today in prayer and Scriptures and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the gifts he has given you and desires to grow in you. Ask the Holy Spirit for the strength to prioritize seeking and receiving these gifts. Ask the Holy Spirit to whom you are to share your gifts with. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to people who can mentor you and encourage you in your spiritual gifts, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Read 1 Cor. 12:5-11, Ephesians 4:11-14, and Romans 12:4-8 and watch this video by Dr. Keener on Spiritual gifts.
Please post your reflections and experiences with the revelation of God below and/or any prayer requests for revelation.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
ODC is in a season of completely planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You
TO GIVE , CLICK HERE
Good morning Jesus, in the silence of this morning I lay my soul before you and say you are worthy of everything you ask me to do in your name today.
Holy Spirit day 17: Sends,
If you have not yet, you need to watch he movie “The Insanity of God.” It is based on the greatest book I have ever read on persecution in the church and Matthew 28’s commission to “go” and make disciples. This morning the aspect of the Holy Spirit on my list I was to meditate on this morning was “Sends.” I smiled inside as “sending” is one of the core elements in the DNA of the church, but one of the elements that is obeyed the least.
My definition of a missionary is: Someone who is willing to sacrifice everything except the Gospel, for the sake of the Gospel.
The definition of a Congregation is: The act of assembling. A body of assembled people or things; a gathering.
Our goal is to become disciples of Christ, correct? Disciples meaning apprentices of Jesus Christ who imitate the life of Jesus, correct? Then which of the the two: a congregant, who’s goal is to congregate and gather in a building or a missionary who’s goal is to be sent and go outside of walls with the Gospel, which of these two life styles imitates that of a Jesus? It is a Missionary. So if the goal of The Church is to imitate Jesus and make disciples of Jesus Christ, why is it so consumed and focuses so much time and resources on making congregations instead of missionaries? Why is it’s goal how many people it can gather together on a Sunday morning and it’s focus on its seating capacity instead of its sending capacity? The church prepares, plans, hires employees, and invests the majority of its time and resources into Sundays when the church family gathers in the building. Why doesn’t the church prepare, plan, prioritize and invest as much in days when the church as a family “Leaves the Building” and serves witnesses in its neighborhoods? Gathering together and corporate worship is important. However, we gather together to equip each other and send us out. We gather to scatter.
As a pastor I struggle with this. Do you know the word “missionary” is not found anywhere in the Bible? It is because all the writers of it as inspired by God did not even think of, and it never crossed their mind there being a distinction between Christians who “go” and those who do not. “Going” and sharing the Gospel is at the core of being a Christian.. And it never crossed God’s mind as well or He would have inspired them make that distinction in the writing of His word. All who call Jesus Lord are called to the mission of God, “missionary” and the movement of God.
Why is it that if people do not sit inside the walls of a church building on a Sunday morning, they feel like they have not been to “Church.” I believe it is because Christian’s in the west have been conditioned and conformed through tradition, cultural norms, pastors and parents, and to some extent the use of shame to believe this. This understanding of “Church” is not Biblical.
Now hear me, I am not in anyway against corporate gatherings of prayer and worship I encourage people to go. When someone tells me they have a solitary, personal faith, and that they do not need to participate in the body of Christ and that they live out their faith with God in their living room, I cringe as that belief is not a desire of God but a desire of the enemy. I am against solitary Christianity. I have a social view of holiness. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism believed in social holiness. There is a need of the body to gather and encourage one another. Yes its goal is to equip its members, however this equipping is for scattering of its members into its communities and unto the nations. However, like a pendulum that should be centered between congregating and going, gathering and scattering, the pendulum of the church in America has swung way past center to the side of congregating. The Church in the west has an unhealthly and un-Gospel focus and has swung way out of balance towards congregating. This unhealthy balance is now our norm, what we are comfortable with it now and it is what we default to.
Yes, we need to be marked by a growing love for God. But we need to be also marked by a tangible love for others! Observable engagement with the Holy Spirit, our discipleship must encompass the whole Gospel. It must transcend personal salvation and embrace the mission of God. Our story has to more than attending church gatherings, hearing the gospel and how Jesus enables me to go to heaven when I die. As my personal knowledge that I am saved, and the collective knowledge of a congregation that they are saved has no impact or effect on those around them facing a Christless eternity unless that knowldge is shared. It must include how I am willing to die for the spread of that gospel. It must include our on going engagement with the “Missio Deo”, the mission of God. This is the sending ministry of the Holy Spirit. We must repeatedly remind ourselves that Christianity it is not about us! Not about surrounding ourselves with people like us, and who like us! The announcement and demonstration of the Gospel happens out there, not in here, as we as disciples live missionaly incarnate lives in our community.
My family, Read Matthew 28:18-20, John 17:14-19. Then watch the short video I have attached by Francis Chan on being sent by the Holy Spirit.
If you would like to receive a link to watch “The Insanity of God” movie, ask in a moment to this post or email me at strat318@gmail.com
My family, I pray and encourage you to please reflect throughout the day on your being sent, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Post your thoughts, reflections, questions, and prayers below in the comments below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You
TO GIVE , CLICK HERE
Good morning Lord Jesus, as a co-heir with you in the kingdom of God I take my place this morning to help usher in your kingdom.
“Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love him.” 1Cor. 2:
Good morning, since my post yesterday a day has past, Have you prayed and then asked one or two people to be in an accountability group with you?
Everything we know of about God, of God, of have experienced from God come through His self revelation and His desire to be known to us. God is pretty clever. If he did not want us to know He existed He could have pulled that off pretty easily. He just never could of created us. For all of eternity God’s essence was that of Father and of love. In a period of time he chose to to become creator and created us. Out of self-revelation he created us in his image. (Gen. 1:27) Creating us in his image is not so much a reference to who we are, but to who God is. That His desire is so great to be known to us and through us to the world that He actually created us to contain his image, His glory. You will not find this in the deities of Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism.
To further reveal Himself to us, God sent His Son, Jesus, so we could actually scratch, sniff, touch, and see God. And so we could be restored to the full image and knowledge of God, Jesus suffered death on the cross, descended into hell, redeemed all sins, rose from the grave, and ascended to the Father.
Then to take it over the top in His desire to be know to us, not only did God create us in His image, become flesh so we could see His image, complete the saving works of the cross to restore our image, but He gave us the gift of His Spirit so He could actually physically and spiritually indwelled in us!
Hear me this morning! With joy in my heart this is my wake up shout at the top of my lungs to you, to all people, all nations, and all the world to hear!
GOD WANTS YOU TO KNOW HM!!!! GOD IS SO DESPERATE AND HAS, AND IS, GOING TO THE MOST EXTREEM MEASURES OUT OF HIS DEEP LOVE FOR YOU TO REVEAL HIMSELF TO YOU!!!!
The Holy Spirit is in you and desires to lead you, teach to, and assist you to become the holy revelation of God. Ask Him this morning for a deeper revelation of Him! I have some Scriptures for you to read: 1Cor. 2:9-16, Eph. 3:14-21, 1John 4:13
But before you do, take a little time and write out your own personal “Bible Prayer” of sorts. As I have written this reflection, I want you to stop and write a prayer of thanksgiving for the Holy Spirit and His presence and revelation over this time you are going to be spending in The Word. Spend time writing it out or typing it out in your phone or what ever you are using. , Then stick it in your Bible, or save it to your phone or tablet, however you read his Word. Then, pull it out each time at the beginning of your devotion time before you open your Bible and read it. This will open you heart and mind to experience God and receive the Holy Spirit in the words you are reading, In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Post your reflections and experiences with the revelation of God below and/or any prayer requests for revelation.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You
TO GIVE , CLICK HERE
