Good morning, Lord Jesus. I've come to meet with You in our morning place in the deep communion of prayer--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God.
"So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord--for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him" (2 Corinthians 5:6-9).
Here on earth, here in this earthly dimension of time and space where time unfolds chronologically, day by day. Here I am in my physical home in Alabama. But at the same time, I also live in another dimension, in the heavenly dimension of Your Presence, where I also already have a spiritual home in Christ. It's in that heavenly dimension, which is just as real as this earthly dimension, that Your Word is fulfilled that You have "made us alive together with Christ--by grace (we) have been saved--and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:5-6). I'm here on earth in one dimension, but I'm also up there seated with You in another dimension. It's in that heavenly dimension that Your Word is fulfilled that already God "has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 1:3).
In that heavenly dimension, all of this is already done, it's already finished, it's already accomplished and completed. It's an eternal dimension, not limited by chronological time and space. And in Christ, I'm already a part of that heavenly dimension, as I abide in Christ and Christ abides in me (John 15:5). In that heavenly dimension, I already have a spiritual home, I'm already abiding forever in Your Presence, I'm already home.
So here on earth, in this earthly dimension from my physical home, You invite me to pray "Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). And the more I allow You to align my will with Your will, my thoughts with Your thoughts, my heart with Your heart, there more my prayer is being answered as Your kingdom comes and Your will is done, here on earth, here in me and my world, as it is in heaven.
Just as You promised Your first disciples long ago, You continue to promise me and every one of Your disciples today: "In My Father's house here are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, so that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:2-3). That's not a place to go when I die, that's a place in Christ that You've already prepared for me now by your saving works of the cross and resurrection--the place of Your Presence, where I'm already home.
Thank You, Jesus. You have "put eternity in (our) hearts" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). It's a deep longing to experience and live into the reality of what's already true in the heavenly realm forever here in the everyday lives or our earthly realm today. "For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling.... He who has prepared us for his very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee" (2 Corinthians 5:1-5). Give me grace to live into this eternal reality more every day. Give me grace to embrace the truth that in You, I'm already home. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray this morning you grow in the grace of embracing God's truth that you are already home in Christ, and may you live into this reality more every day, where God already has blessed you with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus in the heavenly places, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections 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 could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please begin 2018 by a 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!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. ...
As I reflect on prayer, for about 14 years, I've spoken those words “Good morning Lord Jesus” in my morning prayer and written those words that flow from my encounter with you as I begin my day. July of 2012 is when You moved myself and my family to Madison, Al, a place we had never lived before and know little about to begin loving and serving our neighbors in in this area. Those are the words that came to me first that first morning I awoke in this new place and began praying into the How, what, where and why of the ministry you called my family here to begin.
It became my way of beginning my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. It became my way of seeking You first and Your Kingdom and Your righteousness, before anything else, so that You would have First Place in my day and First Place in my life. And the journey has continued -- morning by morning, day by day, season by season -- through this increasingly intimate and deeply personal season of my life.
Some call it contemplative prayer or centering prayer or listening prayer or prayer of silence and surrender to watch and wait for the leading of the Lord. Whatever it's called, it's been such a tender way of Your Holy Spirit moving in my human spirit to come awake and come away with You, to come up higher with You into this high and holy place of Your Presence -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God.
You gave me the inspiration for my daily prayer devotion blog from the words You spoke through the prophet Jeremiah in the midst of a difficult and challenging season of his life and in the lives of those he was called to serve and to love, as he shared Your words of encouragement and hope:
"But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
His mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness.
'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul,
'therefore I will hope in Him.'
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
to the soul that seeks Him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord"
(Lamentations 3:21-26).
As I reflect back on the 14 years I have been in Madison, I thank You, Lord -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- that Your mercies are new every morning and never come to an end. That Your love is steadfast and never ceases. That You are good to those who wait for You, who seek You, who wait quietly before You in the silence of surrender to let You speak what's on Your heart and let You lead them down the path You've chosen into the fullness of our salvation and the depths of Your Presence.
Then sometime soon along the way, whether exactly the first day or not I don't really remember now, I believe I sensed the prompting of Your Spirit to share these morning prayers from my journal. The thought was that my prayer could come into agreement with others who were praying, and that together we could begin our day embraced by our Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. And also to encourage others to begin their own morning conversations with You. And though it's not been for everyone, and for some just for a season, I've had great joy in knowing that many have been encouraged and comforted, even awaked into a deeper desire for intimacy with You in every dimension of Your Being as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit as we surrender every dimension our being to You from our "spirit and soul and body" in worship and prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
"The Lord God has given me
the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain
the weary with a word.
Morning by morning He wakens --
wakens my ear
to listen as those who are taught"
(Isaiah 50:4).
But no matter how this journey began or how it has grown and developed along the way, I do thank You that this has been a deeply honest and intimate journey with You. I feel like I could face just about anything I may have to endure on my journey to maturity in You as You seek to make me more like You each day, as long as I have a lifeline of prayer and deep communion of personal relationship with You, where deep calls to Deep, heart to Heart, and spirit to Spirit, morning by morning.
In Ezekiel's vision of the spiritual temple where the living waters would flow, he spoke of the sacrifice to be made morning by morning:
"He shall provide a lamb, a yearling, without blemish, for a burnt offering to the Lord daily; morning by morning he shall provide it. And he shall provide a grain offering with it morning by morning regularly, one-sixth of an ephah, and one-third of a hin of oil to moisten the choice flour, as a grain offering to the Lord; this is the ordinance for all time. Thus the lamb and the grain offering and the oil shall be provided, morning by morning, as a regular burnt offering" (Ezekiel 46:13-15).
You are the Lamb. And You are the High Priest who has made the offering of Your life for each one of us, that we could draw near to You, that we could embrace the gift of Your steadfast love and Your tender mercies that never come to end, that are new for us every morning. So I offer these morning prayers to You as my spiritual act of worship in trusting surrender of my life to Yours, of every dimension of my being to every Dimension of Your Being (Romans 12:1). Lord, let Your Living Waters flow into me and flow out of me -- along with all Your children who seek You and wait upon You and offer their lives as a living sacrifice to You -- to bring Your life into our world "morning by morning" every day and every way You desire (Ezekiel 47:1-12). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you may be encouraged to begin every morning with a conversation that begins with you saying “Good morning Lord Jesus.” To allow you to live into every day embraced by our Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit, to let the love and life of God flow through you and make a difference in your world, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share with us your thoughts and prayers with us in the comments box below. Thank You!
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support for myself, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commit in 2020 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.
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Father, Son and Spirit, I thank you that you delight in this time I shre with you this morning.
“As Jesus was having a meal in Leviʼs home, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the experts in the law and the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard this he said to them, “Those who are healthy donʼt need a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. (Mark 2:13-17)
Jesus, as I read this passage I see that to you the lost, those that are caught up in sinful lifestyles and don’t know you as Lord, have extreme value to you. They are a treasure so great to you that you leave behind all that you have and the safety of your church friends to go seek them and find them. You went and hung out at places they hung out, invited them to share meals at your table, and proclaiming the good news of deliverance to them was at the heart of your ministry. You loved them. You even said “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17)
I do not see that value for the lost as a treasure to be sought out in the church today. Most of the attitude of those in churches today is the same as the attitude of “the church people” in the passage above, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” The “lost” are something to avoid and stay away from and people use the term “lost” towards others in a derogatory way or gossip about them in parking lots or small groups. We desire to be in a “Sanctuary”apart from the lost. Yet a church-going Christian’s personal knowledge that they “saved” and their attending a Sunday morning church services has absolutely no impact on those who do not know Christ around them.
Jesus, if you had one day to physically come back to earth, you would not visit my church, or any church, you would visit prisoners in jail. You would not want to hear a church choir practice, but the hear stories of the homeless and addicted in the streets. You would not share a meal at a Wednesday night church gathering, but at the happy hour of a bar with those who have no church family. We in the church, we read the stories of your life Jesus like these in Mark 2, we know that is what you did, we know you hung out with prostitutes and sinners, we know we are called to imitate our lives after yours, so why don’t we value and seek out the lost like you did? When was the last time you planned a day or activity, and put it in your calendar that was centered around seeking, finding, and sharing the Gospel with your brothers and sisters that have not been set free in Christ? When was the last time you valued a co-worker, neighbor, classmate, or anyone who does not love Jesus enough to invite them over to your house to share a meal and have a conversation about Jesus with them? When was the last time your heart truly broke and mourned for the lost, that you spent time on your knees praying for them? When was the last time you shouted with joy and rejoiced because you had led someone into the saving grace of Jesus Christ? Can you remember? Was it last week? Last month? Last Year? 5 Years ago?
I would truly rather no one show up at a service on Sunday and instead; they go out intentionally to share their faith and visit their local jail, hang out and pray with people in the Emergency waiting room of a hospital, go into a bar, walk the street with the homeless, walks the mall praying over and with people and workers, invite people into their home for a Sunday brunch, or in some other way actively seek “lost” treasure. And so would Jesus!
My family, I pray today your heart will break and mourn in prayer over your brothers and sisters who are perishing without Christ. I pray today as you begin a new week you will intentionally and actively plan out, set a date, time, and place when you will leave your (your church family, routine and comfort and imitate Jesus and go out seeking lost treasure or invite “tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners” to a meal in your home, In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog 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
Give A Gift
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!
Good morning Lord Jesus, Help me be present and rest in your love.
Jesus came for the forgiveness of sins. My sins, your sins, the removal of shame and the restoration of life. I read this morning a familiar story in the Gospel of Mark in chapter 2, Jesus forgives the sins of a paralytic man:
“And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”” (Mark 2:4-5)
When I read this passage this morning, for some reason the Holy Spirit wanted to reveal another aspect of this passage and led me to turn my Bible to another passage of Scripture that is familiar to most Christians:
“So pray this way:
Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored,
may your kingdom come,
may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
“For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins.” (Matthew 6:9-13)
When Jesus forgives someone’s sins, like those of the paralytic man, he does not just forgive the sins the paralytic man committed against Himself, but the also the sins the man committed against others. He forgives all sins. The paralytic man may have wronged another person in that house with him and Jesus. He may have lied to them, cheated them, or hurt them in some other sinful act. And that person the man did a sinful act may still be hurt, mad at him, and refusing to forgive him, but when Jesus forgave the paralytic man, he forgave him for the sins he committed against others. When Jesus forgives the sins of your neighbors, he forgives not only the sins they committed before God, but also the sins they committed against you. Whether you forgave them or not. Think about that.
We wrestle with and think it is hard to forgive others who hurt us or our family. Think about standing in for and forgiving a person for hurting another person. That is what Jesus does. When we say the Lord’s prayer we claim, “may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Jesus forgives a person with a penitent heart that ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness is God’s will, so that forgiveness is completed in heaven. Jesus then looks at us and asks us to act on what we preach and pray, and to forgive as well and to do on earth as He dd on earth, and in heaven. One of the greatest Christ like abilities and characteristics that is given to Christians, is the ability to forgive.
My family, I pray over you the words you pray many times over yourself, “Jesus, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” I pray you do on earth what has already been done in heaven, and forgive those who have sinned against you, 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
Help Us Help Them!
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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Good morning, Lord Jesus. From the rising of the sun, through every moment of my day, I give You praise -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God.
"When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that (Jesus) was at home. So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and He was speaking the word to them. Then some people came, bringing to Him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven.' Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 'Whey does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?' At once Jesus perceived in His spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and He said to them, 'Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Stand up and take your mat and walk'? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins' -- He said to the paralytic -- 'I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.' And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, 'We have never seen anything like this!'" (Mark 2:1-12).
This man was paralyzed in his body. But You didn't speak first to his body, You spoke first to his soul. You said, "Son, your sins are forgiven." He needed healing in his body, but first he needed the healing of his soul. His body was paralyzed, but so was his soul. His soul was as paralyzed and lifeless and dead as his legs. But You came that he would have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10). You came to set him free from his paralyze and death, that You might raise him up to walk in newness of life -- "just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life!" (Romans 6:4)
You called this man "Son" because You are from the Father. You are the Savior that knows each of us so intimately that you know each of our intimate, hidden, personal struggles and afflictions. You are the Father of all who believe in You to forgive us from our sins that only You know and free us from death and free our souls from all that would keep us bound up and crippled from embracing the fullness of life You have for us all. "To all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God, who were born not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12). "For in Christ Jesus (we) are all children of God through faith" (Galatians 3:26).
As You spoke Your words of spirit and life into his spirit, You forgave him of his sins and freed him of his bondage. And he responded in faith. He stood up and took up his mat and walked out his faith in front of them all with great joy! The salvation of his soul began to manifest in the salvation of his body! And al lwho saw it -- even the Your critics -- were amazed and glorified God! (Mark 2:12)
Lord Jesus, Your words are "spirit and life" (John 6:63). As I prepare to walk out my door again and begin another day, speak Your words of spirit and life into my spirit this morning. Let me hear Your words as well, “Son, Your sins are forgiven” so I may be free me from any bondage. Raise me up into newness of life to “pick up my mat” and walk in Your ways -- leaping in my soul and shouting Your praises and glorifying my God! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray this morning you spend time with the Holy Spirit and embrace by faith the fullness of life our Father has for you, forgiven and free from bondage and sin, in the innermost. intimate parts of your soul. Then “pick up your mat and walk” and get about doing God’s work he created you to do. In Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections 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 could use your financial support re;atone;;y reaching out with the Gospel to those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. 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!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. In my prayers and worship, in these offerings of the first fruits of day, I draw near to You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God and welcome You to draw near to me.
"Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the good news of the kingdom of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.... Then Jesus said to them, 'Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men' " (Mark 1:14-17).
At One Direction Community we are spending 32 weeks together going through the Gospel of Mark. Each week in my home after we share a meal, a time of worship and prayer, and celebrate the Lord’s supper, we discuss discern and reflecting on the Bible passages we are reading for that week and their application on us as disciples of Jesus trying to imitate Jesus. I read through the first chapter of Mark’s Gospel tagain his morning and the first word spoken by Jesus in this Gospel stood out to me.
The first words of Jesus in this Gospel of the Kingdom of God is not "Believe in Me" or "Follow Me" or "Go into all the world and make disciples of Me." His word’s are not "Go, be baptized in the Holy Spirit, pursue the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit, save souls, heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead, storm the gates of hell, preach with power, teach with authority, grow up into the maturity of Christlikeness, as you are being transformed and conformed into the image of the Son of God." Without question, these are all important parts of the Gospel of the Kingdom (Mark 6:7; Matthew 10:8 and 28:18-20; John 14:12 and 20:21; Luke 9:1-2; Acts 1:4-8). However, all these powerful commands and worthy aspirations are not first.
Jesus' first word of the gospel of the kingdom of God is simply "Repent."
Before we do anything else, we must repent. We must make a choice to turn to Jesus: to change our mind, to have a change of heart, to trust You and entrust our lives to You, as best as we can and all by Your grace, just as we are. We must simply repent. Repentance is the first thing required to enter the Kingdom of God.
And it's not just a one-time choice, a one-time prayer, a one-time “X” we put on a day of our spiritual calendar. Something we check off once as completed on a check list. It's choosing a lifestyle of repentance -- choosing to continue to turn our hearts over to Christ, every moment of every day. It's the on-going attitude of a heart of being transformed by the renewing of minds, being conformed to the image of the Son of God, being filled with Your Spirit, and being empowered to be more like Christ every day.
We can't do any of that in our own power. We can't even desire any of that in our own will. Apart from You, we can do nothing that would ever bring any good or lasting fruit for ourselves or for others. You have to give us the desire and the power. However You're always so ready to do just that. Our part is to make that choice and keep on making that choice. Our part is to repent.
We repent because the kingdom of God is at hand. And as we repent, the kingdom of God begins to live and grow in our heart -- for "the kingdom of God is within (us)" (Luke 17:21). "For the kingdom of God is ... righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17).
So come, Holy Spirit. Move in my heart, remove any pride and move me to repent and keep on repenting in a lifestyle of repentance, allowing You to keep changing my mind, my heart, and my soul into who I'm created me to be, a reflection of Jesus. Abba Father, let Your kingdom come and Your will be done, here on earth and here in my heart, as I continue to turn and entrust my heart to You.
As Your Word proclaims and promises, "This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14). Come, Lord Jesus. "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!'" (Revelation 22:17) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray today you will take time to simply, yet deeply repent. That you will daily choose to repent and embrace the kingdom of God with all your heart and mind and soul and strength as best as you can and all by God's grace, that the King of the kingdom may advance His kingdom in you and in the world around you every day, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
I ask you to please share your reflections and prayers on your reflections from this mornings reading 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 could use your financial support as I seek to relationally reach with the Gospel those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. 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!
Good morning Lord Jesus, with all that I am and all that I have I seek youths morning.
“And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.” (Mark 1:19-20)
The Bible does not contain the dates James and John, Peter, or any of the Apostles were “saved.” It does contain the day they became his disciples and began their “Hero’s journey”, a journey of following Jesus. Discipleship is a journey. And central to this discipleship journey is following Jesus and hearing from the Father. As I stated in my previous post Jesus’ whole journey with his disciples was to mentor them into forming a relationship with the Father in which they heard his voice. “And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 16:17)
You are on a “Hero’s Journey.” It is the journey of your life. And Central to your journey needs to be your relationship with God. What is central is not the church you attend now, or your present small group you are in. Though these may be a great source of help to you presently in deepening your relationship with God and where your journey is located now, your journey will continue on after your season with there is over. And your participation in them though important, is not the destination where your “Hero’s Journey” with God is leading you to go. They are stops along the way for encouragement to continue on your journey in life. If you take these things like church, small group attendance and Bible studies out of the central place and simply look at your life’s “Hero’s Journey”, your journey and adventure with God, your relationship with God, what do you see? Where are you going?
Please take 10 minutes to watch this Ted Talk video on “What is the Hero’s Journey.”
My family, When you finish watching the video, say a prayer for honest revelation from the Holy Spirit and then reflect on your Hero’s journey with Jesus. Where are you on your journey? Have you answered your call? Are you doing what make’s you happy? Have you entered the unknown? Have your returned and are you sharing the experience of your journey with your neighbors? In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please post and share your thoughts, reflections, questions, or prayers 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/
Please support and partner with my self and my family as we serve those God crosses our path with in our community with your one-time or monthly financial gift by clicking link below.Become our partner and support us in our ministries by becoming supporting us monthly or with a one-time gift. Thank you!
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If you have been reading my morning reflection blog posts this week you know because of the 4th of July holiday and the 250th birthday of our country I have focused all my posts on the USA and the birth of our Country. If you read my post yesterday you know how blessed I feel to be born in America and that I have “hit the lottery" with my USA citizenship. Wednesday night I had a watch party over at my house. I sang our national anthem with the TV and we cheered USA to our victory in the World Cup. The picture of the flag in this post is in front of my house I put up the next morning to celebrate both that victory and July 4th. So this morning, do not to take this post out of the context of my reflections and feelings I have for our country. This morning I simply reflect on another aspect of this July 4th holiday. I am starting off my blog post today with a blog from one of my favorite missionologist, Michael Frost. My comments will follow.
“I don’t love my country.
There, I said it.
I’m a citizen of Australia. It is a relatively peaceful, prosperous, liberal democracy with a pleasant climate, kangaroos, beautiful beaches and an impressive opera house.
I’m grateful for the considerable benefits my citizenship brings. I’d rather be Australian than Syrian or North Korean or South Sudanese. I cheer enthusiastically for our national rugby team and politely explain to Americans how Australia and New Zealand are different countries and why being Australian is better.
But I don’t love my country.
(I don’t even really think it’s better to be an Australian than a New Zealander).
In fact, whenever I allow myself to give into those tribal inclinations to defend my country as better than any other I can’t sense the Holy Spirit behind that at all.
It’s tribalism. It’s factionalism. It’s divisiveness and superiority. It deceives me into overlooking the racism and injustice perpetrated in my country’s name and to focus on flimsy and ill-defined definitions of my national “character”.
And yet so many Christians appear to equate national loyalty with faithfulness to God.
Billy Sunday, the most celebrated and influential American evangelist during the first two decades of the 20th century, once wrote, “Christianity and Patriotism are synonymous terms, and hell and traitors are synonymous.”
It’s a trap, surely, to confuse the Christian faith with the religion of American patriotism.
Remember, the term patriotism derives from the root word, patris, meaning “fatherland”. Surely, those of us who put our faith in Christ accept that our Father is God, not our nation.
And before you go saying the Bible teaches we should be patriotic, it doesn’t!
Sure, in Romans 13 Paul calls on the church to be subject to political authority. And when writing to Titus, he explains that the Roman Empire is a strange blessing in that it keeps the peace and allows the church to flourish: “…remind them (the believers at Crete) to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed.” (Titus 3:1)
Moreover, Paul not only commends obedience to authorities, but also that we pray for them. I Timothy 2:1-2 states,
“First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quite life in all godliness and dignity.”
It could be argued that to pray for someone is to love them, but note that Paul’s motivations in Romans 13, Titus 3 and 1 Tim 2 are all somewhat self-serving. He doesn’t want Christians to become enemies of the state because it will impede the spread of the gospel.
I can’t distil from any of these passages the least inclination in Paul that the early Christians should love the empire and feel patriotic about their citizenship in it.
In fact, Paul’s injunctions to live at peace in the empire sound more like the prophet Jeremiah’s advice to the Babylonian exiles. When the Israelites were conquered by their mortal enemy and forcibly repatriated as hostage-slaves to Babylon, God encouraged them to live at peace on foreign soil:
“Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters …. Increase in number there; do not decrease” (Jer. 29:5-6).
But more than that, God tells them to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jer. 29:7).
Far from promoting patriotism, both Paul and Jeremiah appear to be liberating the people of God from it, telling them they can make our home anywhere. In other words, it is the duty of the people of God to seek stability, peace, and prosperity wherever they go. This includes supporting the nation in which we live, but not loving it.
Polycarp, a 2nd Century bishop, was martyred for his faith around AD156. He was aged in his mid 80s by then and much loved by all who knew him. Even the soldiers tasked with his execution wanted to offer him a way out. They told him all he had to do to avoid being burned at the stake was to light incense to the Emperor and declare, “Caesar is lord.” But Polycarp refused: “Eighty-six years I have served Christ, and he never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?”
That was awfully unpatriotic of him.
I take David Gushee’s point that because gratitude is an important Christian quality, we do well to show our thankfulness to God for the opportunity to live in free and prosperous nations (for him, the US, and me, Australia). Okay, but is that the same a loving my country?
For those of us in Christ, our citizenship is in the kingdom of God. Any nationality we adopt is only provisional. This is Paul’s view, as best I can figure it out. He drew heavily on the benefits of Roman citizenship without ever investing his identity in it.
Likewise, we can’t focus our identities around being American or Australian, British or South African, as if this means anything in the eternal scheme of things. Otherwise we fall into the idolatry of patriotism, believing that any one nation’s or people’s cause is more worthy than another’s. That kind of thing only leads to bloodshed and suffering.
I think it’s fun when on national holidays we eat provincial cuisine and watch local sports and recall our nation’s history and give thanks for the advantages our citizenship affords us. And I think it’s beautiful when the followers of Jesus can bow their heads on such days and recall they have been set free from parochialism and condescension, racism and militarism, and can thank God their citizenship is in a coming kingdom of justice, reconciliation, wholeness and peace.” (Michael Frost)
Here now are my comments:
The first church I pastored was a small country church and the majority of the parishioners were senior citizens. When I walked in the church I noticed they had pictures of church members and family members of the church who were veterans, all decked out wearing their uniforms hanging on the walls along the back and side of the church. They had hung them there for a Memorial Day service several years ago and they were never taken down. In the front of the church behind the prayer rail and behind the altar, just to the right of the cross that hung in the center of the front wall, stood a large American flag on a pole in a brass stand. I was appointed to the church in June and I was only there a few weeks when I led my first service during the July 4th holiday. I can still remember the opening hymn for that service that Sunday was “Amazing Grace.” A powerful and a popular hymn, and the congregation sat in their pews as they sung it, most from memory, looking around at their neighbors and the woman leading the singing. Because it was the July Fourth Sunday, the next hymn they sang was “God Bless America.” As soon as the sweet lady behind the piano began playing the melody of the song, the whole atmosphere in the church changed! I hate to say it, but to one of deeper reverence and importance. The whole congregation left their pew seats and stood up. They placed their hands over their hearts, stopped glancing around the church at their neighbors or the woman leading the singing, and their eyes focused forward on the American Flag up front. With pride they sang louder and with more passion to this song than they did to the great hymn of the faith before it. And I remember thinking to myself, if somehow it was possible for someone to walk into that church who knew nothing about Christianity or the USA; maybe someone from outer space who had no idea what the cross or the American flag meant. And they simply observed the church service, the congregation and its worship; Who or what would they perceive as the reason the church was gathered and the main focus their worship was directed towards? It would not be the cross and what ever it stood for, but the American Flag and what it stood for.
Or if a person from another country attended that church with the veteran’s pictures in military uniforms on the walls and flag up front, how comfortable would they be in that service?
This troubled me. Now being a new pastor and only at that church a few weeks, I knew that If I pointed this out to them and asked for the removal of the American Flag from up front net to the cross and the taking down of the pictures of the veterans from the walls, it would be suicidal to my ministry there. So I Prayed, I Loved the congregations, and waited until I had enough ethos and a relationship with them to make a point. When Christmas came, the ladies of the church set up a large and beautiful nativity scene in the front of the church near the altar. One Sunday morning before the service, I took a small American flag, and I stood it up in the nativity scene right behind the manger that baby Jesus was laying in surrounded by Mary and Joseph. As the ladies who set up the nativity scene and the congregations came in that morning, they saw the nativity scene and the flag stuck in it and they complained to me and said, “Why did you put that American flag there? Jesus was not American. The flag does not belong there.” I said, ”Exactly!” And motioned with my head to the flag at the front of the church.
As I stated in the beginning of my reflection the flag hanging in the picture is in front of my house. When I look down my street, the are several other houses with American flags hanging in front of them. This was similar to Memorial Day and other national holidays. However, I have never looked down my street, no matter what the holiday of our faith was; Easter, All Saints Day, Pentecost…etc and seen more than half the house in my neighborhood with crosses or Christian banners hanging in front of their homes. Why are we so bold to proudly declare to everyone without reservation our patriotism and love for our country, however not our love for Jesus?
"Then 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. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:1-5)
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Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
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Good morning Lord Jesus, I prioritize you as I begin my days that I may prioritize serving others throughout my day.
I am continuing reflecting this morning on this weekend’s celebration of July 4th and the 250th anniversary of the birth of our country. I believe that as Christians we are called to claim are citizenship as citizens of God’s kingdom and to view the whole world as our neighbors. We are to imitate Jesus and have a world view of salvation, “God so loved the World” (John 3:16). Yet though we are most importantly citizens of heaven first, those of us who live in this world in the USA are truly blessed and need to be exceedingly grateful and exceedingly generous. It is far from perfect and has it’s flaws however, The USA is truly an amazing country of opportunity. We who live in America, most of the time can’t see how blessed we are to live in the USA, as illustrated by these stories of people I have encountered who have hit the lottery.
A while back I went of a mission trip for over three weeks to Southern Darfur in South Sudan, Africa. I was part of a team that worked with the children and people ravaged by the war and genocide by the Muslims of North Sudan. We dug five water wells to provide drinking water to those affected by the poisoning of their wells by the North. At the completion of one well a Sudanese woman and her three small children came to the well to drink and bath. I had brought bars of soap with me and I gave one to the woman. She took the bar of soap and cried out in a high shrill cry that is typical of African woman, “Aiy yi yi yi yi yiy yiyi !!!! She moved her naked children to the well and started pumping water and soaping them down, continually crying out full of joy! To her she had just hit the lotto! God knows if she had if ever had a whole bar of soap in her life and she treated it like gold as she washed herself and her family.
My wife Nancy and I for years were part of a group that walked “The Hill,” a, poor, high crime, high drug use area of Guntersville handing out flyers inviting the families to a free community Thanksgiving Day meal hosted by Guntersville FUMC. Every year, as Nancy would say, my heart would be impacted by a couple families I came in contact with and I would “adopt” them. I would bring their names to the small group I belonged to and we would buy them food, cloths and other items for them for Christmas. One Christmas Nancy and I brought these items to a poor family I met. The mom had a small son around kindergarten age. I remember the boy going up to the box of food and his eyes got big as he saw a large jar of peanut butter. He grabbed it and came up to me and Nancy and asked if he could have it, if it was really his? We said yes. The boy hugged the jar of peanut butter and shouted and danced anround the small living room of his HUD apartment! To him he had hit the lotto! Then he sat down on his barely furnished living room on the concrete floor, took the lid off the jar, and with the biggest grin and joy started eating the peanut butter out of the jar with a spoon. I remember thinking, if I had given my young daughters a jar of peanut butter for Christmas they would have pouted and looked at me “like really?” Yet to this poor boy, this jar of peanut butter was an unimaginable gift, he had hit the lottery and treated it like gold.
A couple years ago I served on a Chrysalis team that served and shared the Gospel for 4 days with a group of teenage boys. One of the boys I got to know asked me to talk. He told me about some family abuse and neglect he lived in. Tears came to his eyes as he talked about his grandma that passed away that he loved. He said she was the one that loved and was always there for him. He told me how she lived in this huge house. “It was like a mansion!” he said. It had a big kitchen and lots of rooms. He and his brothers and sisters would go over there often and she would cook them grilled cheese and help them with their homework. Then the teenage boy said they would run around and play in her large house and yard. He pulled out his cell phone and showed me a picture of him and his grandma in front of a home. I asked if that was his grandmother’s house behind him. He smiled and said “Yes”as he showed me the picture, “Yes! It is a double-wide trailer with a built on front porch!” Honestly, I must confess when I think of a “huge house”, “a mansion”, a double-wide trailer with a porch does not come to my mind. But to this boy, because of the poverty he came from, in his mind he hit the lottery when he got a grandma who lived in that double-wide that he could escape into and his memory of it was priceless, like gold to him.
Each of us who were born in the USA have hit the biggest lottery we could ever imagine for which we rarely give thanks to God; That is the lottery of Being born I the USA. When each of our heads came out of our mother’s womb it could have been anywhere in the world. It could have been in the bush in a grass hut in war torn Khartoum Sudan, Africa. A slum of half a million people in India. In a tent behind a barbed wire fence in a Syrian refuge camp. However, by some miraculous chance our heads came out in a hospital bed in the USA. We did not earn it or deserve it or were entitled to it as too many Americans think. We simply got lucky and hit the lottery. We won an ultimate prize that billions of people in the world dream and long for, and many desperately try to gain everyday, the prize of US citizenship.
Because of this all of us need to be more generous and none of us have a right to complain. I was doing that the other day with my wife as talked to her about our ministry. We raise our own support ad I was telling her how if we just had one person of all the “rich” in Madison give $50k donation we would be set for a year. I was complaining about our financial situation. And then God brought to my mind the stories I shared above and many others, and I shut up and repented.
If I ever feel like complaining, that I am “owed something,” or that “ I’m entitled to to something” or that “life’s not fair,” I need to go pull out my birth certificate. Then look at the line of “Nation of Birth” that is stamped USA, and remind myself ”USA” means Ultimate Sweepstake Award. And then shut up, fall on my knees and thank God, and go ou and be extremely generous.
My family, I do not know what struggles or hardships you are going through, and I am not at all trying to make light of them, as they are real and I am praying for you. However, I pray you fall to you knees and thank God that you are going through them in America. I pray today as the greatest way to celebrate the birth of our country, you simply shut up and go out and be extremely generous today and this weekend, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your comments, reflections, and prayers from today’s reading with us in the comments box below.
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!
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!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and listen for Your voice as I worship and wait in the communion of prayer. ...
"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity" (1 Timothy 2:1-2).
I looked at a coin on my coffee table and I read the words “In God We Trust”. Like a “pocket cross” or some other prayer reminder people carry in their pockets, do you realize that the coins you carry in your pocket are a reminder of who and where your faith and trust lies?
As we begin the month of July and move closer to July 4th and the remembrance of the birth of our nation, may we not forget the motto of our nation and may it become an authentic expression of the people of our land, in humility and honor, in faithfulness and obedience before You, O God. "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance. The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth; He fashions their heart individually; He considers all their works. No king is saved by the multitude of an army; a mighty man is not delivered by strength. A horse is a vain hope for safety; neither shall it deliver any by its great strength. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name. Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, just as we hope in You" (Psalm 33:12-22).
And Lord, let the motto of our nation be the motto of my heart. By grace and in faith, may I trust in You and Your holy name. Forgive me for when I'm tempted to trust in myself or anything less than Your will as my destiny and Your Word as my authority. Give me a holy fear of the Lord to honor You and a holy love of the Lord to trust You. For me and for my nation, may You always be "our help and our shield," for in God we trust. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray that you pick up a coin and read the motto “In God We Trust.” I pray it reminds you who your faith is set in, and you trust in the Lord with all your heart, leaning not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledging Him and trusting Him to direct your paths--for you and for our nation, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your comments, reflections, and prayers from today’s reading with us in the comments box below.
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.
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“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Romans 1:16
This weekend we will celebrate the July 4th holiday and the birth of out Country. I prayed over our country this morning. The statistic is given that there are over 188 million secular functioning people that do not know any basics of the Bible in America. This makes America the third largest mission field in the world.
Those 188 million people are members of your family, co-workers, classmates, fellow gym members, waitresses, and your neighbors. I watched the movie “The Insanity of God.” It iss a movie on persecution of Christians and the sharing of the Gospel in dangerous places in the world. One scene of the movie looked at China. In China, even though there is horrific persecution of Christians taking place in that country, millions of people are coming into the saving faith in Christ Jesus and the church is booming. The interviewer asked them why that is? They answered their persecutors who are atheists attack those who the share the Gospel and will not share it today or any day with anyone. So we share the gospel daily. If we go through the day and do not share the Gospel with anyone, who’s side are we on, Jesus’ or our persecutors? If we do not share the Gospel today, we choose to side with them. As how is our silence in sharing the Gospel any different than there’s is? There is the sin of omission. Failing to do what the gift of your salvation compels you to do.
You can’t do it wrong. You do not have to be a theological expert. Most of those who are sharing the Gospel in China have not read much of the Bible. Some of their underground churches have just got a copy of a book of the Bible or two passed on to them.
Read Ephesians 3:7-13; Acts 4:12
My family, I would ask you then to take time, yes time, to write out the Gospel. Have you ever wrote out the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Write it out to enforce and remind you of it, so you will have more clarity and comfort in sharing it. Then pray over what you wrote, and ask the Holy Spirit to give you an unavoidable opportunity to share it today, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you for my friends!
Please share your reflections from reading my friends email with me and others 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 could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. 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!
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“Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” (Romans 13: 8-10)
This coming Saturday we will celebrate July 4th, Independence Day and all the freedoms, opportunities, and blessings this country makes available to each one of us. One of those rights, freedoms, and choices made available to us is we have is the choice to love our neighbors. As citizens of the USA we also have the freedom and choice not to love our neighbor. However, Jesus, as our Lord of Lord’s and King of Kings You did not give us this freedom or choice. We all, as citizens of the kingdom of heaven are not given the option but the command to love our neighbors.
Yet most of us spend more time avoiding our neighbors than loving them. We get in the car in our garage in the morning, hit a garage door opener and pull out and head to work or whatever is on our agenda for this trip. We drive past our neighbors. We drive past the poor and the homeless and we pretend not to see them. On the way back home later in the day we repeat the same drive, ignoring and avoiding our neighbors. We push the garage door opener and pull into our garage and close the garage door behind us “successfully” avoiding our any contact with our neighbors, and never even stepping foot in our neighborhood. And if we go outside that evening it is on our back deck of our fenced back yard away from our neighbors.
We know the commandment to love our neighbor. We know that in the final judgment Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats, those who loved their neighbors from those who did not: “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world….‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me… “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.” (Matthew 25:34, 40, 41, 45)
We know this, Yet we fence in our yards, build back decks, do not open our homes to host Bible studies, share our faith, or other gatherings, and structure most of our lives to avoid our neighbors. We even call where we worship on Sunday’s “Sanctuaries” from the world. Loving your neighbor does nor “just happen.” Loving your neighbor takes intentionality. You have to intentionally set aside and prioritize margins of time in your day and week to love your neighbor. Again, on July 4th we celebrate Independence Day and all the freedoms, opportunities, and blessings this country makes available to each one of us. One of greatest blessings this country has provided each one of us is with houses and apartments to live in them. Each one of our homes comes equipped with front doors. Doors that can used to be generous and opened up to welcome and love our neighbors. Or doors that can be used to shut off neighbors and keep them from entering.
Let us recommit to Jesus’ command to love our neighbors! Christians hang on their walls pictures and paintings containing the words from Josua 24:15, “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” What does that accomplish when they are the only one who ever see it and in reality they use their homes to only serve themselves and are not using their homes at all to serve the Lord and to obey His command to love their neighbor. You can commit to prayer walking your neighborhood and start a Bible study, prayer group, or other gathering in your home. Invite a different neighbor every other week over for dinner. And join in with other ministries who love their neighbors like volunteering at the Manna House, Downtown Rescue Mission, First Stop, House of Harvest or other ministries in your community. “Love is the fulfillment of the law.”
Just like planning a dinner party with friends takes intentionality: setting a date, setting a time, making a guest list and inviting, and planning a menu, loving your neighbors takes the same intentionality. If you do not prioritize dates and times in your calendar, if you do not pray over your guest list and unite, it will never happen.
Take 3 minutes to watch this short video.
My family, watching this video breaks my heart and brings tears to my eyes. I pray it touches your heart as well. I pray today in remembrance of celebrating Independence Day, in all the freedom provided to you by the country, and out of love for God and your neighbor, you intentionally pray on how and where you can add margins of time to your life to love your neighbor. In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog 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
Help Us Help Them!
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!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lead me in the way that leads to life in You today.
"And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then Jesus said to them, 'Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.' They immediately left their nets and followed Him" (Mark 1:16-18).
Simon and Andrew knew what they were, fishermen. But You saw who they were created to be, fishers of men. They knew what they could do, cast out nets. But You wanted to show them what You could do through them, cast out demons. But You wouldn't force them become something they weren't willing to be. So You spoke to their ears, while you moved in their hearts. And everything inside of them that was created to long for the coming of that day burst forth and said, "Yes, Lord. Here I am. I will follow You."
And "immediately" they left their nets -- and all that meant about life as they had know it -- and followed You. They were willing to hear and willing to come. They were willing to follow You and willing to allow You to form them and make them become who You created them to be.
Lord Jesus, give me faith like that to follow You today. Give me the courage to let go of everything that's anything less than who You created me to be. As much as I may think that I know what I am, You know better, for "all things were created through (You) and for (You)" (Colossians 1:16).
You created me and You call me to come, follow You and be fulfilled in You, as You fulfill Your plans through my life. "For (I am Your) workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that (I) should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you hear with your ears and be moved in your heart to come follow Jesus today, and let go of every thing and allow Him to make you into all He created you to be, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections 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 could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please upport 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!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lead me in the way that leads to the fullness of life in You today -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
"As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, 'See, I am sending My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.' ... (John, the messenger) proclaimed, 'The One who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. I have baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit" (Mark 1:2-8).
Lord Jesus, baptize me with the Holy Spirit -- this day and every day. Fill me afresh, saturate and soak me anew, through and through, overflowing with "rivers of living water" (John 7:38).
Come, Holy Spirit. Prepare the way of the Lord in my heart. Make the crooked places of sin straight; bring down the high places of my pride; and lift up the low places of seeing myself as anything less than the child of God I am in Christ. Fulfill Your Word in my heart: "Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed" (Isaiah 40:3; Luke 3:5).
Father God, what can I do to position myself to prepare the way of the Lord in my heart? ...
It seems I hear You saying in my spirit: "My son, I am the One who leads you to desire this and to pray this. Allow My Holy Spirit in your heart to move you to an ever-increasing hunger and thirst for Me and My Presence, so that you settle for nothing less than the fullness of My Presence in every area of your heart and life."
Yes, Lord. Let it be so. I now claim the “Let me” promises of Your words in Scripture over me.
Let me abide in You, as You abide in me (John 15:4).
Let me "be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18).
Let me "be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:19).
Let me be "conformed to the image of (Your) Son" (Romans 8:29).
Let me embrace Your will and yield to Your ways in trusting surrender to "become (one of Your) participants of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4).
Let me "grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ," growing up "to maturity, the measure of the full stature of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11-16).
Let me "live to God" because "I have been crucified with Christ (so that) it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:19-20).
Let Your Spirit "sanctify (me) entirely; and may (my) spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
I choose to believe the promise of Your Word, "The One who calls (me) is faithful, and He will do this!" (1 Thessalonians 5:24). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family,I pray you are baptized in the Holy Spirit this day and every day, as You allow Him to prepare the way of the Lord in your heart. Claim these “let me“ passages over your life this morning, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections 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 could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. 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!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Take me by the hand and lead me by the heart, closer to the Father as I begin this day following Father’s Day.
"And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen His glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.... From His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made Him known" (John 1:14-18).
Lord Jesus, You are the Son of God; You are God the Son. You are "close to the Father's heart" because You and the Father are "One" (John 10:30). You are "the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very Being" (Hebrews 1:3). You are "the image of the invisible God" for "in (You) all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell" (Colossians 1:15-19).
Just as You are "close to the Father's heart," You long for every one of us, as sons and daughters of God, to be just as close to the Father’s heart. You passionately prayed that prayer for us when you walked this earth: "As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. That glory that You have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me" (John 17:21-23). That's a deep expression of the desires of your heart that we fully receive and all by your grace.
My Father God, as I reflect on Father’s Day and being a father myself, I draw near to you, close to the Father's heart, as best as I can all by your grace, through Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior. I embrace Your Holy Spirit, abiding in me -- living in me that I may live in you (John 14:17). "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of (us)" (2 Corinthians 13:13). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family. I pray as we begin a new day following Father’s Day when we spent time being with or remembering our earthly father, you will set aside some time to spend with your heavenly Father and to draw close to the Father's heart. Through his grace upon grace may you draw deeper in communion with Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit that abides in you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends! And a belated Happy Father’s Day to the Dads!!!!
I begin my day lifting the name of Jesus for the name of Jesus is the weapon I will use to fight my battles today.
Last night at our house church gathering we read together out loud the “Daily Prayer Of Freedom” prayer I shared in yesterday’s morning devotion. We reflected and discussed together on the amazing depth and breadth of the prayer and it’s equipping and guiding us in spiritual warfare against all spiritual and physical enemies. My reflection this morning flows out of that discussion last night on spiritual warfare and prayer.
Acts 19:13-16" But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, "I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches." Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. And the evil spirit answered and said to them, "I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded."
There is power in Jesus. In the battlefield of spiritual warfare, claiming the name of Jesus, claiming the power of Jesus, claiming to be in Jesus through the presence of the Holy Spirit in you is the ultimate weapon. But the Holy Spirit is a consuming fire. He is not a lap dog that you can beckon to come and go, and there is nothing domesticated about Him. There is nothing domesticated about Jesus. As the passage above illustrates, you do not "play" with The Holy Spirt or flippantly throw out the name of Jesus. Like handling a powerful, explosive weapon, there is a sense of awe, respect, and fear involved
When I went to Darfur in Sudan, Africa, the region was then and still is now a extremely dangerous and violent region. Some team members requested permission to carry a hand gun. We were told you can bring a hand gun, but once you carry one, in the view of the military forces in the area you are no longer a civilian on a mission trip, you are a soldier on a mission, and the enemy do not play around. You do not carry it for show. If you are going to carry a gun, you better make sure in your inner being that you are willing to use it, without hesitation on another human being because the Islamic military personnel will not even blink an eye at using their weapons on you.
What you need to understand, is that when you accept Christ into your life and your call to participate in and be part of The Church and choose to carry a cross, the way you are viewed in the worlds eye is changed. You are no longer a civilian in the world’s economic and political system empathetic and selfishly withdrawn and docile. To Satan, the Ruler of the World (John 16:11), you are viewed as a soldier under the command of Jesus your Lord. You enter into the battle field of spiritual warfare. And just as real and plain as my Darfur illustration, is the seriousness and the life and death consequences of your decision. You do not carry a cross and follow Jesus for “show” or for “status.” We are trying to take back territory and communities from the enemy. We are trying to liberate families and individuals from Satan’s rule. We are part of the revolution of Christ. If you are going to carry a cross you need embrace the serious military and spiritual warfare implications of Ephesians 6:10-18. Take seriously its call to put on the full armor of God and arm yourself with the sword of the spirit. For there is an enemy who has come to kill, steal and destroy (Jn 21:25) who also will not blink an eye in using weapons at his disposal on you. He wants nothing more to see good hearted people get hurt and hurt each other. Press into Jesus who's battle it is and who's victory it is. So when the evil spirits look at you, with terrified eyes they will see Jesus, and tremble with fear.
Prayers:
Pray and reflect on,”If were one of the 7 brothers in the story in vs 13-16 and the evil spirit looked at you, would he recognize you by your obedience and walk in life as a disciple of Christ?”
Pray into a full understanding of your answering “yes” to your call to follow Christ. Not that all the details and timings involved in it need to be made known. But an understanding of the new view as a cross bearer for Christ you now have in the world's eyes.
Read Ephesians 6:10-18, pray yourself into the full armor of God. Then close your eyes and visualize the victorious Christ reigning in your family, your neighborhood, and Huntsville and Madison.
Read Ephesians 6:19-20. Pray those two verses over yourself, your family and church. Pray then also right now, over 5 people you know who are Gospel bearers in their community.
I have included Ephesians 6:10-20 below. I spent time reading through it and added to it other verses in Scripture that support its message. Read through it and meditate on it as you have time.
Please share your reflections in the comments box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
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!
Ephesians 6:10-20 (in italics) with corresponding Scriptures inserted.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
“No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” Romans 4:20-21
“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus” 2Tim 2:1
“I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” 1 John 2:14
Put on
“I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban.” Job 29:14
“The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” Rom. 13:12
the whole armor of God,
“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.” 2 Cor.10:4
that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
“so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” Eph 4:14
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood,
“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” Col. 1:13
but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
“When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.” Luke 22:53
"in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” Eph 2:2
Therefore take up the whole armor of God,
“Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin” 1 Pe 4:1
that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
“making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Eph. 5:16-19
Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth,
“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” 1 Pet. 1:13
“Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.” Isa. 11:5
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,” Isa 61:10
“He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.” Isa 59:17
and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation,” Isa 52:7
“And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” Rom 10:15
In all circumstances take up the shield of faith,
“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” 1Joh 5:4
with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.“ Heb 4:12
“He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away.” Isa 49:2
praying at all times
"And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart" Lk. 18:1
in the Spirit,
"But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit" Jude 1:20. "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." Romans 8:26
with all prayer and supplication.
"Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak" Col 4:2-4
To that end keep alert with all perseverance,
"But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake." Mark 13:32-34
making supplication for all the saints,
"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people," 1 Tim 2:1
and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth
"At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—" Col. 4:3. "Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you," 2Th. 3:1
boldly to proclaim
"And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness," Acts 4:29
the mystery of the gospel,
"how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly." Eph. 3:3
for which I am an ambassador
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God" 2Cor. 5:20
in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak."
"For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain.” Acts 28:20
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
At our House Church meeting last Wednesday evening there was honest sharing of the battles and struggles of life. One person shared of their struggle with drugs and alcohol and claimed 6 months of being clean. Another young person shared about her struggle with cutting and personal harm and claimed 30 of not harming themselves. Another high school person shared of the trials home there home life with a mother who is in the hospital because of drug abuse and no peace in their house. A senior member shared of lonliness and depression. Another senior member shared of being financially scammed and the tension it caused with her children.
So this morning before we meet for house hurch again this evening I felt compelled to begin my day by reading one of my favorite prayers over my life, my family, and my ministry. It is the Daily Prayer of Freedom. It is my go to prayer when I want a complete covering and protection by the complete Triune of God. It is not a short prayer, so before you start, go get a cup of coffee, set aside sometime for you and God, and read it slowly this morning. I would suggest you read it out loud.
Daily Prayer of Freedom
From John Eldredge’sbook, “Wild at Heart”
My dear Lord Jesus, I come to you now to be restored in you, renewed in you, to receive from you all the grace and mercy I so desperately need this day. I honor you as my Sovereign, and I surrender every aspect and dimension of my life totally and completely to you. I give to you my spirit, soul, and body, my heart, mind, and will. I cover myself with your blood—my spirit, soul, and body, my heart, mind, and will. I ask your Holy Spirit to restore me in you, renew me in you, and lead this time of prayer. In all that I now pray, I stand in absolute agreement with your Spirit and with my intercessors and allies, by your Spirit and by your Spirit alone.
Dearest God, holy and victorious Trinity, you alone are worthy of all my worship, my heart’s devotion, all my praise, all my trust, and all the glory of my life. I love you, I worship you, I give myself over to you in my heart’s search for life. You alone are Life, and you have become my life. I renounce all other gods, every idol, and I give to you the place in my heart and in my life that you truly deserve. This is all about you, God, and not about me; you are the Hero of this story, and I belong to you. I ask your forgiveness for my every sin. I renounce my sins. I ask you to search me and know me and reveal to me where you are working in my life and grant to me the grace of your healing, deliverance, your holiness, and a deep and true repentance.
Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me and choosing me before you made the world. You are my true Father—my creator, redeemer, sustainer, and the true end of all things, including my life. I love you, I trust you, I worship you. I give myself over to you, Father, to be one with you in everything as Jesus is one with you. Thank you for proving your love by sending Jesus; I receive him and all his life and all his work which you ordained for me. Thank you for including me in Christ, for forgiving me my sins, for granting me his righteousness, for making me complete in him. Thank you for making me alive with Christ, raising me with him, seating me with him at your right hand, establishing me in his authority, and anointing me with your love, your Spirit, and your kingdom. I receive it with thanks and give it total claim to my spirit, soul, and body, my heart, mind, and will. I bring the life and work of the Lord Jesus Christ over my life today, over my home, my family, my household, throughout my kingdom and domain.
Jesus, thank you for coming to ransom me with your own life. I love you, I worship you, I give myself over to you to be one with you in all things—spirit, soul, and body, heart, mind, and will. I sincerely receive all the work and triumph in your cross, death, blood, and sacrifice, through which my every sin is atoned for, I am ransomed and delivered from the kingdom of darkness and transferred to your kingdom, my sin nature is removed, my heart is circumcised unto God, and every claim being made against me is disarmed this day. I now take my place in your cross and death, dying with you to sin, to my flesh, to this world, to the evil one and his kingdom. I take up the cross and crucify my flesh with all its pride, arrogance, unbelief, and idolatry [and anything else you are currently struggling with]. I put off the old man. Apply to me all the work in your cross, death, blood, and sacrifice. I receive it with thanks and give it total claim to my spirit, soul, and body, my heart, mind, and will.
I bring the blood and sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ over my life today, over my home, my family, my household, my vehicles, finances, over all my kingdom and domain. I bring the cross, death, blood, and sacrifice of Jesus Christ against Satan, against his kingdom, against every foul and unclean spirit, every foul power and black art, against every witch, and against every human being and their spirit, their warfare and household. I bring the cross, death, blood, and sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ to the borders of my kingdom and domain, and I stake it there in the name of Jesus Christ.
Jesus, I also sincerely receive you as my Life, and I receive all the work and triumph in your resurrection, through which you have conquered sin, death, judgment, and the evil one. Death has no power over you, nor does any foul thing. And I have been raised with you to a new life, to live your life—dead to sin and alive to God. I take my place now in your resurrection and in your life, and I give my life to you to live your life. I am saved by your life. I reign in life through your life. I receive your hope, love, faith, joy, your goodness, trueness, wisdom, power, and strength. Apply to me all the work and triumph in your resurrection; I receive it with thanks and I give it total claim to my spirit, soul, and body, my heart, mind, and will.
I bring the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ over my life today, over my home, my family, my household, my vehicles, finances, over all my kingdom and domain. I bring the resurrection and the empty tomb of Jesus Christ against Satan, against his kingdom, against every foul and unclean spirit, every foul power and black art, against every witch, and against every human being and their spirit, their warfare, and household. I bring the resurrection and the empty tomb of the Lord Jesus Christ to the borders of my kingdom and domain, and I stake it there in Jesus’ name.
Jesus, I also sincerely receive you as my authority, rule, and dominion, my everlasting victory against Satan and his kingdom, and my ability to bring your Kingdom at all times and in every way. I receive all the work and triumph in your ascension, through which Satan has been judged and cast down, and all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to you. All authority in the heavens and on this earth has been given to you, Jesus, and you are worthy to receive all glory and honor, power and dominion, now and forever. I take my place now in your authority and in your throne, through which I have been raised with you to the right hand of the Father and established in your authority. I give myself to you, to reign with you always. Apply to me all the work and triumph in your authority and your throne; I receive it with thanks, and I give it total claim to my spirit, soul, and body, my heart, mind, and will.
I now bring the authority, rule, and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ over my life today, over my home, my family, my household, my vehicles, finances, over all my kingdom and domain. I now bring the authority, rule, and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fullness of the work of Christ against Satan, against his kingdom, against every foul and unclean spirit—every ruler, power, authority, and spiritual force of wickedness, their every weapon, claim, and device. [At this point, I specifically name all foul and unclean spirits that I know have been attacking me, such as fear, doubt, accident, injury, death, the religious spirit, pride, arrogance, etc.] I send all foul and unclean spirits bound to the throne of Christ, together with every back-up and replacement, every weapon, claim, and device—by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and in his name. I command the judgment of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the heads of those that refuse to obey, and I send them to judgment, by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and in his name.
I now bring the authority, rule, and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fullness of the work of Christ against every foul power and black art—every hex, vex, and incantation, every spell, weave, web, veil, shroud, charm, and snare; against every ritual, sacrifice, and device; against every vow, dedication, and sacrifice, every word, judgment, and curse—written, spoken, unspoken, or transferred to me. I command them disarmed and broken by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and in his name.
I now bring the authority, rule, and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fullness of the work of Christ against every witch, cult, and coven, every channel of black arts to me. I cut them off in the name of the Lord; I send the glory of God to them to turn them in Jesus’ name.
I now bring the authority, rule, and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fullness of the work of Christ between me and every human being—their spirit, soul, body, their sin, warfare, and their household. I bring the full work of Christ between me and [now I name people I’ve counseled or prayed for, family members, folks in crisis looking to me, etc.]. I command their human spirits bound back to their bodies and their warfare bound to the throne of Christ in their life. I bring the full work of Christ between me and my household and all people, in the authority of Jesus Christ and in his name.
Holy Spirit, thank you for coming. I love you, I worship you, I trust you. I honor you as Lord. I receive all the work and triumph in Pentecost, through which you have come, you have clothed me with power from on high, sealed me in Christ, become my union with the Father and the Son, the Spirit of truth in me, the life of God in me, my counselor, comforter, strength, and guide. I honor you as Lord, and I fully give to you every aspect and dimension of my spirit, soul, and body, my heart, mind, and will—to be filled with you, to walk in step with you in all things. Fill me afresh, Holy Spirit. Restore my union with the Father and the Son. Lead me into all truth, anoint me for all of my life and walk and calling, and lead me deeper into Jesus today. I receive you with thanks, and I give you total claim to my life.
Heavenly Father, thank you for granting to me every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. I claim the riches in Christ Jesus over my life today, over my home, my family, my work, over all of my kingdom and domain. I bring the blood of Christ once more over my spirit, soul, and body, over my heart, mind, and will. I put on the full armor of God: the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel, helmet of salvation; I take up the shield of faith and sword of the Spirit, and I choose to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of your might, to pray at all times in the Spirit.
Jesus, thank you for your angels. I summon them in the name of Jesus Christ and instruct them to destroy all that is raised against me, to establish your Kingdom over me, to rebuild the shields and hedges of protection around me and my household, and to minister to me your ministry. I ask you to send forth your Spirit to raise up prayer and intercession for me. I now call forth the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ throughout my home, my household, my kingdom, and domain in the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving all glory and honor and thanks to him. In Jesus’ name, amen.
To addd some time in the Word, you can read and meditate on Psalm 91, Ephesians 6:10-20, and Romans 8:18-39.
My family, I pray today you will take time this morning pushing into and connecting yourself completely with God, so you can spend the rest of the day pushing back evil and ushering in the kingdom of God. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!!
After reading this prayer, Please share your reflections and thoughts in the comments box below!
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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Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Jesus, I begin this new day that is a gift from you, seeking a new and deeper revelation and intimacy of your presence in my life.
Do you also want to become his disciples?” (John 9:27)”
I pray that your first priority as you begin this day and every day will be a desire to be a disciple of Jesus. May you deeply abide in Christ, as He deeply abides in you, bearing much fruit as a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ (John 15:4). May you know and embrace the truths of God and be set free from everything that would hold you back from being all your Father created you to be (John 8:36). May you make it your aim to please God in all you do, doing all things to the glory of God, with a heart filled with joyful obedience in a life of praise (2 Corinthians 5:9). And may your joy be made full and complete, as you sense the pleasure and joy of the One who created you for joy (John 15:11).
May the holy angels of the Lord lift you up into His presence and surround you with His protection and war for you in the heavenly realms with His victory (Psalm 91:11). May the Lord stretch out your stakes and enlarge the site of your tent, with the wisdom and authority to prevail and prosper in all He has entrusted to you (Isaiah 54:2). May He bless you and increase your territory, with His hand upon you to protect and empower you, to express His heart and power and love and grace through you to the glory of His name (1 Chronicles 4:10). And may He give you as a possession of your inheritance every place where the soles of your feet may touch and where the prayers of your heart may reach, to the full measure of His plans and purpose for your life and through your life (Joshua 1:3).
May you hear the voice of God more clearly with more certainty than ever before (John 10:3). May you be renewed and restored in your journey with God to walk with Him and talk with Him in the coolness of the day and the intimacy of His garden in the depths of your spirit as deep calls unto deep (Genesis 3:8). May you be led by the Spirit of God as a beloved child of God (Romans 8:14). May you know the fullness of joy in the presence of God (Psalm 16:11). And may you know that you are not created and called to be merely an obedient servant of God, but a beloved child of God and a faithful friend of God (John 15:15).
May you prepare the way of the Lord in your heart and allow your words and your prayers and your life to help prepare the way of the Lord in the hearts of others (Mark 1:3). May you be sanctified in spirit and soul and body, sound and blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, wholly surrendered and wholly committed to the Lord your God (1 Thessalonians 5:23). May you be conformed into the image of Christ, free to be like Jesus, to allow Him to display His glory through your life (Romans 8:29). May you be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may know and embrace and live into the perfect will of God for your life (Romans 12:2). And may you be changed into the very image of God, from glory to glory, as you seek Him and behold Him and give yourself fully to Him, without reservation or hesitation (2 Corinthians 3:18).
May you be continually baptized with the Holy Spirit and the holy fire of the living God, set ablaze with a passion for Jesus and burning with unquenchable zeal to see God's kingdom come and His will be done here on earth, and here in your heart, as it is in heaven (Acts 1:5). May the anointing and power of the abiding presence of God be upon you and within you always (1 John 2:27). May you be one the Lord uses to turn this world upside down with the glory of God! (Acts 17:6) And when it's all be said and done, may you hear the words of your Father spoking into your spirit, "Well done, My good and faithful servant! Enter into the joy of your Lord!" (Matthew 25:21)
May you awaken this morning and every morning to the tender mercies and steadfast love of the Lord our God that never ceases and never comes to an end in His faithfulness for you (Lamentations 3:22-23). May you know and experience the unshakeable, unchangeable, unbreakable embrace of your Father's arms around you, with the fullness of His provision and protection, as He reveals and affirms the fullness of your identity and destiny as a child of God (Luke 15:20). May you hunger and thirst for righteousness as You grow in Your hunger and thirst for a deeper intensity and intimacy in Your personal relationship with Jesus, as Savior and Lord of every dimension of your life (Matthew 5:6). May you be filled afresh and overflowing with the Holy Spirit every day, as you keep surrendering your life and entrusting your heart to the One who fills your life with the righteousness and peace and joy of the fullness of the kingdom of God (Romans 14:17).
May the mighty right hand of the Lord be lifted high over every moment of your life and every encounter you face, with His power and love to uphold you and encourage you and empower you, as He does mighty things for you (Psalm 118:16). May the hand of the favor of God be upon you and go before you, to bless you and prosper you, as you flourish and thrive with the fruit of His righteousness for the glory of His kingdom (Proverbs 3:3). May the Lord give you the desires of your heart, as you humbly, trustingly delight in Him and allow Him to fashion His desires in your heart (Psalm 37:4). May you pray more boldly in faith, not doubting in your heart, but centered in Christ, to receive what you ask in the name of Jesus (Mark 11:23). And my the power of your words, flowing from the heart of the Father, speak spirit and life everywhere He sends you in the authority of His name (Ezekiel 37:10; 1 Peter 4:11; Mark 11:23).
May you prosper in all things and be in good health just as your soul prospers. May you prosper and flourish, producing good fruit, always green and full of sap throughout this year and season of your life. May you be passionately vibrant, fully alive, and faithfully true. May you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, that all these things that are in your Father's good heart to give you may be added unto you (Matthew 6:33).My family, by the power and the grace of God: "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace!" (Numbers 6:24-26) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you will fully embrace and desire to be a disciple of Jesus and passionately live into all the Lord has already done in your life and allow Him to fulfill in you all the kingdom shaking plans He created you for and all He wants to do new in you and and through you today and every day, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
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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
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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!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I worship You, Lord God, in spirit and truth, as I start my day focused on You. ...
"God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Padan-aram, and He blessed him. God said to him, 'Your name is Jacob; no longer shall you be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.' ... Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He had spoken with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it. So Jacob called the place where God had spoken with him Bethel" (Genesis 35:9-15).
I was talking to a person yesterday when a song by Bethel was playing. They asked me what does "Bethel" mean? "Bethel" means house of God. Now that God has poured out His Holy Spirit upon all Your sons and daughters of God, we are Your Bethel -- the place God dwells is in our hearts as Your house. We are "a holy temple in the Lord, in whom (we) also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God" (Ephesians 2:21-22). "Do you not know that (we) are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in (us)?" (1 Corinthians 3:16)
So today, wherever I am, I can hear Your voice speaking to me. Wherever I am, I can sense Your Presence abiding within me. And wherever I am, You invite me to pour out my praise as a offering of my life and trust in You only as my pillar of strength, remembering every place and every moment where You've met with me and assured me that I am Your child and You are my God. You are my God who knows my name.
You are constantly saying to me,"My son. I am in you and you are in Me. Trust in Me to lead you today by your heart that you've entrusted to Me."
Yes, Lord. Abide in me as I abide in You (John 15:4). Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart. Remind me that Your Spirit is within me, guiding my path and ordering my steps, changing my heart into Your nature. Dwell in Your house, here in my heart, throughout the moments of my day. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My Friends, as you begin a new week I pray you will remember throughout the moments of your day that your heart is God's house. May you hear His voice and sense His Presence wherever you are. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections 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 could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. 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!