Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lead me in Your steps.
"(Jesus) called the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, 'If any want to become My followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for My sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.' And He said to them, 'Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power'" (Mark 8:34-9:1).
You called Your first disciples to "take up their cross" even before You took up Yours. And now that You've taken up Yours, You call every disciple who chooses to follow You to do the same.
We are in the season of Lent which is a season of reflecting on your saving works on the cross. It is a season to discern how we need to re-orientate our lives as cr0ss-bearers for You, so we can re-connect with You and Your resurrection. Lord Jesus, give me the courage to take up my cross and follow You. Give me the grace to willingly, obediently, and joyfully choose to lose my life for Your sake and for the sake of Your gospel. May I do my part in my generation to see Your kingdom come with power -- here in my heart and here in my world -- today and every day until You come again in the glory of the Father with the holy angels.
Let these words be true of me as they were of Your disciple Paul: "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is not 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). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family I pray you will find great joy and fulfillment in your journey with Jesus by taking up your cross, losing your life for His sake, and following Him into all He has for in your life. May you carry the glory of His name in your heart into your world, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers 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 reaching 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. You are the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, here with me now and in every moment of my day.
"For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard" (Isaiah 52:12).
You're the God who goes before me. You're the God who comes behind me. You're the God who's always with me, even within me--never leaving me, never forsaking me, but forever seeing me, knowing me, and understanding me, even with all my quirks and needs, even with all my sins and failures. You're the God who created me and loves me and has plans for me that will come to pass, all in Your way and all in Your time. You are God and You are good and You are a good God to me.
So I don't have to worry about what lies ahead, and I don't have to worry about what's left behind. You've already been there, just like You'll always be there. My part is to simply trust in You and embrace Your mercy and love for me. As I do, there's joy in the journey and anticipation in the adventure; there's peace in every step and there's hope in every challenge. You've already gone before me and You remind me every day it's a good place You've prepared and set before me (John 14:1-3).
Im honor of St. Patrick’s Day here is f one of my favorite, ancient prayers, St. Patrick's Breastplate Prayer. The term breastplate refers to a piece of armor that covers the heart worn in battle. I also reflect on how you can only wear one suit of armor. In order to put on God’s armor, we must first remove our personal armors of pride, jealousy, self-reliance, self- competency, materialism, and others things we attach to us and clothe ourselves and rely on when we face challenges. In order to put on the breastplate from God, we must first by faith surrender ourselves to God, stand before Him naked, and allow Him to equip us with his armor.
Though recent scholars lean towards the author of this prayer being an anonymous source, I still call it by its traditional name.
My family, I pray today you read this prayer out loud over yourself, your family. and your domain. I pray you surrender your life to God and claim the fullness of this prayer over any challenges and situations that are facing you and claim the breastplate in any battles you face, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends.
Sant Patrick’s Breastplate Prayer
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
of the Creator of creation.
I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.
I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In the predictions of prophets,
In the preaching of apostles,
In the faith of confessors,
In the innocence of holy virgins,
In the deeds of righteous men.
I arise today, through
The strength of heaven,
The light of the sun,
The radiance of the moon,
The splendor of fire,
The speed of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of the sea,
The stability of the earth,
The firmness of rock.
I arise today, through
God's strength to pilot me,
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptation of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
afar and near.
I summon today
All these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel and merciless power
that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul;
Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me an abundance of reward.
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
of the Creator of creation.
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
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Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and listen for the leading of Your Holy Spirit, here in the embrace of my heavenly Father. ...
As I woke this morning, I thought of the cross. I thought of Your suffering and sacrifice, Your mercy and love. I thought of Your holy humiliation that our human minds can't begin to comprehend as You cried out from the cross, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46). And then these words came to my heart: "Astonished Silence."
Your Spirit brought to mind the silence of heaven when You opened the seventh seal in the Apostle John's Revelation.
“When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. Another angel with a golden censer came and stood at the altar; he was given a great quantity of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that is before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth; and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake" (Revelation 8:1-5)”.
It was the same on the day of Your death at the cross: "Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed His last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split" (Matthew 27:50-51).
Every prophecy is ultimately fulfilled in You, as are "all the Scriptures" of the Word of God (Luke 24:27). You are the very Word of God, the Word made flesh (John 1:14). And this morning, I see a parallel in this prophecy of Revelation and a partial fulfillment--one in the eternal realm of heaven with the Lamb of God who stands at the throne and one in the historical realm of earth with the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And in my heart I hear, "Astonished Silence."
In the midst of the earthquakes and darkness on that holy day of Your sacrifice and death at the cross, and in the midst of the ultimate judgments that must come upon the earth and upon those who would reject Your mercy and love, I sense the "astonished silence" of heaven. With all of heaven, I'm astonished that God would die for me, astonished that the fury of hell and the mercy of heaven could meet on the cross all at once, It is both cruel and beautiful, at a moment in time on this earth but forever timeless in the eternity of heaven. And I am astonished that all will not humble their hearts to receive all You've done for us at such a cost. With the silence of heaven, I am astonished at Your sacrifice of love and I have no words to express. ...
As I ponder these thoughts in my heart this morning, I can hardly speak at all. I simply say, Thank You, Lord Jesus….. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family,I pray you experience the mercy and love of the One who sacrificed so much for you at the cross--at once, both cruel and beautiful, yet necessary for the salvation of your soul and mine, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
I want to encourage you to join me by also sharing with us your thoughts, comments, reflections, and prayers you received from today’s reading in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
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. I worship You and welcome You, here in my heart and every moment of my day -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
"When it was evening, He took His place with the twelve; and while they were eating, He said, 'Truly I tell you, one of you will betray Me.' And they became greatly distressed and began to say to Him one after another, 'Sure not I, Lord?' He answered, 'The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with Me will betray Me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of Him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.' Judas, who betrayed Him, said, 'Surely not I, Rabbi?' He replied, 'You have said so'" (Matthew 26:20-25).
Sometimes I wonder what happened to Judas. Did he get too close to the money? (John 6:29) With his hand in Your bowl, did he become presumptuous of his access to Your greatness or begin to take his invitation to Your intimacy and his acceptance of Your grace for granted? Did being one of the “Big Twelve” give him the big head? Or did the seeds of sin and self-seeking sown into his fallen soul finally grow to full harvest in his heart of betrayal? In any event, somehow Satan himself entered his soul to consume his thoughts and influence his choices (Luke 22:3).
You know every choice we will ever make, seeing the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end (Isaiah 46:10). You know every heart and every motive of every choice (Acts 1:24; Jeremiah 17:10). Yet, the choices are ours in the freedom of will that a true relationship of love requires (Joshua 14:15; Deuteronomy 30:14-15; John 7:17).
And what if Judas had made better choices with all that was entrusted to him? Surely Your Word was true of him as It is with us all: "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope" (Jeremiah 29:11). "As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live" (Ezekiel 33:11).
Judas was not born a traitor, but he "became a traitor" (Luke 6:16). And by the time it was time for Judas to choose blessing or curse, life or death, "the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray (You)" (John 13:2). In the end, "Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place" (Acts 1:25).
But what if instead of becoming "the one destined to be lost," Judas would have humbled himself in repentance and faith, seeking Your healing and freedom of all that would hold him back of being a faithful follower instead of a condemned traitor (John 17:12)? His confession and repentance came too late when finally acknowledged, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood!" (Matthew 27:3) What if he could have become a son of God instead of the "son of perdition" (John 17:12)? What if he was to spill out his heart to lead others to Christ instead of spilling out his guts after hanging himself on a tree (Matthew 27:5; Acts 1:18)? What if even the Book of Jude could have been the Book of Judas, sharing words of encouragement and exhortation from a life that was changed and surrendered to God to fulfill a destiny to honor Christ (Jude 1)?
You are "longsuffering” toward us (all), not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). So before I judge Judas for the speck in his eye, give me a humble and teachable heart to see the log in my own eye (Matthew 7:5). Let me "judge not," so that by the measure I judge I will not also be judged and that very thing come up me (Matthew 7:1). Let me never take my grace for granted or presume upon my place of intimacy with You. Convict me of my sins and keep me sensitive in my heart to the leading of Your Spirit, so that it's never too late to choose well and live well in the destiny You desire for me (Ephesians 1:11). By the power of Your grace, may I grow to be much more like Jesus than Judas (Romans 8:29). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you you will honestly and openly confess, repent, and be restored of any sin that is festering inside you. I pray you will seek God’s grace and forgiveness and then seek to grow in the grace of God to become more like Jesus every day, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers to 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
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 Jesus, touch my heart with your love this morning so I can touch the hearts of others with your love.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ʻCome, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.ʼ Then the righteous will answer him, ʻLord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?ʼ And the king will answer them, ʻI tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me.ʼ (Matthew 25:31-39)
Lent invites us together to find ways to serve and find ways to change the lives of overlooked, neglected, “least of these”, and homeless people in our community or the community you live in. It’s a time to draw attention to the needs of our neighbors on a local level. The poor and homeless had a special place in Jesus’ heart, and as followers of Jesus desiring to have a heart in us that imitates Jesus’, they need to have a special place in our hearts as well. There are many ways you can participate in this season of Lent.
Volunteer to serve at a local homeless shelter or a ministry that serves meals or in some other way helps out the poor, marginalized, and homeless community and allows you to interact with them. Or if you see a homeless person on the street, invite that person out for lunch or for dinner. If they do not want to go to a restaurant, offer to purchase you both a meal, then go back and sit, talk, and share a meal with them. I am sure you will learn more about Jesus from your time spent with them. Or invite them to go shopping with you and take them to a groceries store and buy them a few food items. Or invite them to a Walmart and buy them a couple clothing items.
The key thing of Jesus’ parable in Matthew 25, is that as we as the “sheep” are to actually spend personal time with the least of these, the overlooked, the neglected, that homeless man or woman. When Jesus says above ”When I was hungry you gave me something to eat” He did not mean you dropped off some canned goods to a food pantry or your church. He meant you invited Him to a meal with you and you fed Him. When Jesus says, “I was naked and you gave me clothing” He does not mean you dropped off clothes at a Good Will or thrift store, He meant you personally got me clothes. Read Jesus words above again: I was a stranger and you invited me in; I was in prison and you visited me…these are all personal, intimate moments with Jesus. So when Jesus says, ”As you did it for one of these least brothers and sisters of mine, you did it for me,” He means the “it” is the personal, intimate, encounters of love you entered into with the poor and the homeless. We cannot try to disconnect this meaning or rationalize we have done this when we drop off outdated cans of food to our churches food drive or clothes that no longer fit us to thrift stores. Such rationalization does not honor Jesus, and It does not honor our least of these brothers and sisters. Both Jesus and them deserve more. Such rationalization is what the “Goats” of the passage above do, not the “sheep.”
Such rationalization by people are at the basis of these words by Jesus. “Not everyone who says to me, ʻLord, Lord,ʼ will enter into the kingdom of heaven - only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, ʻLord, Lord, didnʼt we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?ʼ Then I will declare to them, ʻI never knew you.” (Matthew 7:21)
Giving food, clothing and money donations to organizations and ministries is absolutely a good thing! However, these donations should not help contribute to, or lead to your justifying that you obeyed Jesus’ words in both passages above and then isolating yourself from the least of these, isolating you from Jesus. Jesus is does want you to set up transactions for the least of these, but to enter into into deep interactions with the least of these. The Kingdom of Heaven is a place of intimacy and love, entrance into it flows out of intimacy and love with Jesus. This is found and flows out of intimacy and love for our neighbors, the least of our brothers and sisters.
My Family, I pray on during Lent you will sit in the Holy Spirit’s leading and simply reflect on Jesus’ words, “just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me.” Then go out and intentionally plan on obeying that command this weekend,In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
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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. Awaken my soul as I focus in on You first with all my heart and mind and soul and strength.
“Whoever pronounces a blessing in the earth
will do so in the name of the faithful God;
whoever makes an oath in the earth
will do so in the name of the faithful God.
For past problems will be forgotten;
I will no longer think about them.
For look, I am ready to create
new heavens and a new earth!
The former ones will not be remembered;
no one will think about them anymore.
But be happy and rejoice forevermore
over what I am about to create!
For look, I am ready to create Jerusalem to be a source of joy,
and her people to be a source of happiness.” (Isaiah 65:16-18)
I walked into the Waffle House yesterday morning as usual and I sat at the low-bar and listened in to the discussion those sitting there were having. I got in on the end of it, however it appears the conversation was about immigration and “foreigners” as the person talking ended the conversation by saying, “We are Americans, and America is the greatest country in the world, and if they don’t like it the can get the hell out!” Those at the bar cheered or nodded in unity together.
There's a false unity that's fueled by the human pride to "make a name for ourselves." It has its own language, with its own words. And it's purpose is to build its own kingdom. It seeks to exalt its tower of authority and power over the whole earth and into the heavens. It's inspired and empowered by the same spirit that says, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of assembly on the heights of Zaphon; I will ascend to the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:14).
It's the opposite of the true unity You desire Jesus--"the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:3). This is the "unity of the faith" as we put our faith in You instead of ourselves or our country, building Your kingdom instead of our own, humbly and willingly choosing to desperately dependent upon You alone for our true sense of identity and destiny (Ephesians 4:13). United in You and united with one another in our global bond of humility and faith, "there is one body and one Spirit, just as (we) were called to the one hope of (our) calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all" (Ephesians 4:4-6).
In the true unity of Your Spirit--where we exalt Your name instead of our own, living for You instead of ourselves--You pour out every blessing of heaven we'll ever need: "Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing--life forevermore!" (Psalm 133:1-3).
And in that spirit of unity, all the world will begin to see You--seeing You in us, as we abide in You and You abide in us as one body with one Lord, one faith, one God and Father of all. As the Son of God and Son of Man walking this earth in the flesh and blood of Your incarnation, You prayed to the Father this great prayer of unity: "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. The 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 become 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).
This is the true unity You long to see. This is the new world order You've envisioned from the beginning--the "new heavens and a new earth (Isaiah 65:17; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1). This is the one world government You passionately desire--the "government (that) will be upon (Your) shoulder... (and) of the increase of (Your) government and peace there will be no end" (Isaiah 9:6-7). In the unity of Your Spirit all, "the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever!" (Revelation 11:15) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family,I pray today you unite with Christ and promote His body of faith in the Holy Spirit as the one true source of unity with our Lord, one God and Father of all, 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 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. I look to You and listen for Your leading, for Your sheep hear Your voice (John 10:27).
As I listen, what comes to my heart this morning is this Scripture from the the Prophet Isaiah.
“For since the beginning of the world
Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear,
Nor has the eye seen any God besides You,
Who acts for the one who waits for Him” (Isaiah 64:4).
And I’m remembering similar words from the Apostle Paul:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him”
(1 Corinthians 2:9).
And now what rises up in my heart from Your heart are these words:
“Look to Me with expectant faith. You’ve only just begun and the best is yet to come. But the key to the kingdom I have set before you, the key to the kingdom of God I am forming within you and within the hearts of all who would seek Me and follow Me, is to keep looking to Me. Let me open your eyes to My vision and your ears to My voice. And I will guide your heart and your steps into My plan. And my plan is form the character of My nature in you. For the kingdom of God is within you.” ...
Yes, Lord. ...As I seek to discern what I believe I’m hearing in Your spoken word, these Words come to me from Your written Word:
“Now when (Jesus) was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, ‘The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you’” (Luke 17:20-21).
Yes, Lord. I seek You and seek to follow You and I seek to allow You to establish Your abundant and everlasting kingdom in my heart, as You keep forming the character of Your nature in me -- as best as I can and all by Your grace. Apart from You, I can do nothing (John 15:5). “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).
So with all my heart, I believe in You and I will keep seeking You with expectant faith, as You keep establishing Your kingdom in me. One day my eyes will see and my ears will hear and my heart will know these astounding things You have prepared for me and for all who love You and seeking You. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray as you walk out your door this morning you may walk out looking to God with expectant faith, letting Him establish His kingdom in your heart and the character of His nature in your life, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share you thoughts and prayers with us from this devotion 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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"If only you would tear apart the sky and come down!
The mountains would tremble before you!" V. 1
Isaiah's cry God fulfilled:
"And just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Spirit descending on him like a dove." Mark 1:10
Our cries for help have been answered. Not only do we have a deliverer who tore apart the heavens, but tore apart the grave and the gates of hell when he rose from the dead.
And that same spirit that tore apart the heavens and descended on Jesus at his baptism, and descended into hell and brought Jesus out of the grave, has descended on you at your baptism and all those cry out in faith to God.
My family, I pray those who have cried out to God to remember who resides in you this morning. Those of you who have not yet cried out to God, there is a Holy Spirit that longs to tear through heaven and earth to deliver you from any hell-like gates you find yourself trapped behind. Pray over who you know that is still in a pit without Christ that you need to connect with today and jump into thier pit and direct them who to cry out to for help. What better act of love could you do for Lent? In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
The destroyer is as good as dead, you who have not been destroyed!
The deceitful one is as good as dead, the one whom others have not deceived!
When you are through destroying, you will be destroyed;
when you finish deceiving, others will deceive you!
LORD, be merciful to us! We wait for you. Give us strength each morning!
Deliver us when distress comes…..The LORD is exalted, indeed, he lives in heaven;
he fills Zion with justice and fairness.
He is your constant source of stability; he abundantly provides safety and great wisdom;
he gives all this to those who fear him. (Isaiah 33:1-6)
Most scholars put this chapter in history between the time the Tribute was Sennacherib (2 kings 18:13-16) and when the final attacks on Jerusalem had begun. The leaders of Judah have tried everything to free themselves from the grip of Assyria. But everything they tried failed. Egypt has been defeated, Sennacherib has refused bribes and to be bought off; he took the money, but still remains and is now preparing for battle against them. In this moment, Hezekiah leads his people to repentance and God gives his response which Isaiah records here.
Israel found themselves caught up in a really bad situation that was threatening to destroy them. And they tried everything they could on their own, used all their own strategies, hard work, and resources to get out of it. But it was only as a last resort, after everything else failed, in desperation did they call out to God. Because of a worldly view, pride, ego, and self-reliance, the first thing they should have tried for deliverance and the first person they needed to ask for help, God, was the last thing they tried.
Sound familiar? What was true in the lives of the "church" thousands of years ago is true in the lives of Christians today. We don't like to repent, we don't like to admit we can't fix it, and only in desperation after we have completed messed everything up and find ourselves without hope do we fall on our knees and pray. Only then can we hear God's response.
There is a saying, “Prayer is the train tracks for God..” Meaning God will not arive until the tracks of prayer have first been laid. The people of Israel saw the situation teir country was in, and they collectively came together and spent serious Facetime, time spent prostrated face down on the floor praying tp God for their country, change, renewal, and deliverance. We see this example of collective prayer and God answering prayer all throughout the Bible. So why do we not follow this example? When was the last time everyone in your church came together, not for a Sunday service, not for a Bible study, not for another event, but to pray? When was the last time you called your friends or small group or church and set up a time to pray together over our country? Never? We take time to read to join in, hear, and reply to social media and the news on issues and events going on in our country. Yet we don’t take time to hear from God.
Also, it took one person, Hezekiah, to stand up and be the spiritual leader and convince the people the need to repent and lead them back to God. You and I need to be that one person in our marriages, families, circle of friends, work places, neighborhoods and especially our churches. We need to be the one to help them see the error of their striving in themselves and seek God's support and direction through prayer, reading the Bible, and gathering with believers for support.
My family, I pray after you read this, you will not just click the close the tab and continue on in your own means, but take some time to put these reflections into action, seek God, and pray over your life. In this season of Lent, what a better time to call your church, call your friends, and set up a day and time to come together and pray. Also eflect on how and with what you are fighting your battles? To whom are you be a “Hezekiah” and leading and calling those you have a relationship with and influence over to turn back to God, repent and pray, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Align my heart with Your heart and my will with Your will, O Lord, my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
This. morning I read Isaiah chapter 61. Usualy I ost a few verses from a chapter I am reading that are speaking to me as I write my devotion. This morning I am posting the whole chapter. As Isaiah 61 in it’s entirety is. one of the most powerful, beautiful, amazing chapters in the whole Bible that speaks into the heart of God’s restoration and grace for all mankind.
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,
because the Lord has chosen me.
He has commissioned me to encourage the poor,
to help the brokenhearted,
to decree the release of captives
and the freeing of prisoners,
2 to announce the year when the Lord will show his favor,
the day when our God will seek vengeance,
to console all who mourn,
3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion
by giving them a turban, instead of ashes,
oil symbolizing joy, instead of mourning,
a garment symbolizing praise, instead of discouragement.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor.
4 They will rebuild the perpetual ruins
and restore the places that were desolate;
they will reestablish the ruined cities,
the places that have been desolate since ancient times.
5 “Foreigners will take care of your sheep;
foreigners will work in your fields and vineyards.
6 You will be called, ‘the Lord’s priests,
servants of our God.’
You will enjoy the wealth of nations
and boast about the riches you receive from them.
7 Instead of shame, you will get a double portion;
instead of humiliation, they will rejoice over the land they receive.
Yes, they will possess a double portion in their land
and experience lasting joy.
8 For I, the Lord, love justice
and hate robbery and sin.
I will repay them because of my faithfulness;
I will make a permanent covenant with them.
9 Their descendants will be known among the nations,
their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will recognize that
the Lord has blessed them.”
10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
I will be overjoyed because of my God.
For he clothes me in garments of deliverance;
he puts on me a robe symbolizing vindication.
I look like a bridegroom when he wears a turban as a priest would;
I look like a bride when she puts on her jewelry.
11 For just as the ground produces its crops
and a garden yields its produce,
so the Sovereign Lord will cause deliverance to grow
and give his people reason to praise him in the sight of all the nations.”
Isaiah 61 is such a powerful chapter on the the complete restoritive plan of God of love and grace, that it is the chapter the Jesus quoted from at the start of his ministry on earth to announce his presence in the world and the promise redemption that is now fullfilled in Him.
"Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about Him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. When He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was His custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.' He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. Then He began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hear'" (Luke 4:14-21).
Lord Jesus, You're still healing the brokenhearted and setting the captives free in the power of Your Spirit. You're still fulfilling the scroll of Scripture, the Word of God, confirming Your identity and living out Your destiny. To which I say “Praise God!”
Just as the Father sent You in the anointing and the power of the Holy Spirit, so You send us, you send me saying "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so I send you" (John 20:21). As we abide in You and You abide in us, Your Spirit flows through us in the power of Your love and grace everywhere You send us (John 15:5).
Fill me with Your Holy Spirit today! "Here am I; send me!" (Isaiah 6:8). Send me with the character of Your nature in my heart and the authority of Your name in my words, as You make me more like You each day (Romans 8:29). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you read Isaiah 61 this morning, clain it over your life and ministry, and stand in prayer and declare the Spirit of the Lord God will be upon you today and every day, as the Lord sends you to minister His love and grace with nature of Jesus in your heart and authority of His name through your words, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers 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 reaching with the Gospel those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself 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, I surrender all , so that I can receive all from you.
“Arise! Shine! For your light arrives!
The splendor of the LORD shines on you!
For, look, darkness covers the earth
and deep darkness covers the nations,
but the LORD shines on you;
his splendor appears over you.
Nations come to your light,
kings to your bright light. (Isaiah 60:1-3)
When Isaiah walked the earth and looked out at his world approximately 3,000 years ago a deep darkness covered his world and his nation as well. Isaiah’s answer was not for the people of God in his time to retreat from the darkness, withdraw and isolate from the deep darkness, but to arise and go out and shine, and be beacons of light that drives out the darkness
Approximately 800 years after Isaiah and 2,000 years ago Jesus walked the earth and when He looked around the world, his nation was occupied by a foreign army and a deep darkness of sin covered his nation and the world. Like Isaiah, Jesus’ answer was not for his followers to isolate themselves, withdraw in their churches, and withdraw from society. But to be His light, one that illuminates and turns back darkness. Jesus said,“You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden. People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:1516)
Looking at the news today, you probably get the sense that the world, our nation appears to be a scarier, darker place: War in Iran, War in The Ukrain, ICE shootings, hate and polorization increasing. And what is the answer today? For us to isolate, withdraw from the world, social isolate ourselves inside out homes and churches? No, it is same answer of Isaiah and of Jesus. We are called to go out and light our world. Be a light in the darkness. And darkness being a metaphor for pain, be a source of light, love, hope, and joy in the lives of our neighbors and communities.
My family, you are the light of the world. Because the same light of the Lord that both Isaiah and Jesus declared shines in you! You carry the splendor, power, and glory of God in you! I pray you fall on your knees and claim this same mantle of authority over your life. I pray then you rise, walk out your door and enter into darkness, enter into the pain in this world, and bring and be a beacon of light, healing, hope and Joy. What better way is there as we remember the life and passion of Jesus and our God who “so loved the world” during Lent then to imitate Jesus and go out and “so love the world”, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
I would love for you to please share your reflections with myself or others using the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
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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Look, the LORDʼs hand is not too weak to deliver you;
his ear is not too deaf to hear you.
But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God;
your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers.
For your hands are stained with blood and your fingers with sin;
your lips speak lies, your tongue utters malicious words.
No one is concerned about justice;
no one sets forth his case truthfully.
They depend on false words and tell lies;
they conceive of oppression and give birth to sin. (Isaiah 59:.1-4)
In chapter 57 Isaiah condemned Israel for its turning to false God’s and the decline and absence of leaders who are righteous and have a heart for God. In chapter 58 he points out their hypocritical fasting and religious acts that instead of bringing God pleasure, actually disgust him. In chapter 59 Isaiah points to their lack of any desire of justice and honesty in their lives and treatment of others.
Each of these chapters speaks about prayer. In chapter 57 it was not answered because it was not addressed to the true God (57:13 but to other idols in their lives as well. In chapter 58 God ignores their prayers because the petitioners are hypocrites (58:4) putting on a fake religious “show” for themselves while acting in sin towards others. Here in chapter 59 their prayers are not heard because they pray for justice for themselves, while they lie to and don’t treat those around them with justice.
When we communicate with someone, we know if they are “fake” with us and if effects our response to them. If you find out a co-worker is spreading lies about you and trying to make you look bad to others, and then we they see you they compliment you, it means nothing to you. If you know your spouse is cheating on you, and they come home after a liaison with their lover and say they missed you while they were away and they love you, it makes your stomach turn. If a friend breaks a date with you and lies and says they were sick, and you find out they went out with others instead and did not include you, then call you the next day asking for a favor you are hurt and resentful.
Prayer is our communication with God. All these things I mentioned above that effect our feelings and responses to others: honesty, respect, faithfulness, integrity, love, commitment, caring; somehow we feel do not effect God’s response to us. Isaiah is saying here; we know that the way we treat others is important to that relationship and impacts it. Why don’t we feel the same way about our relationship with God? Will God always love you, yes. But treating your spouse or parents like crap and taking advantage of them because you know they will always love you and be there for you is a pretty crappy way to respond to their love. It is also a pretty crappy way to respond to God’s love for you.
My family, I pray you will take a few moments today and let God know, that though you may not have said it in a while. that you do love him. I pray you will take a few moments today and let Jesus know, that though you may not have said it in a while. that you do love him. Then sit and listen to to the Holy Spirit as he speaks into your soul with their response, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
“Look, at the same time you fast, you satisfy your selfish desires,
you oppress your workers. Look, your fasting is accompanied by arguments, brawls, and fistfights. Is this really the kind of fasting I want?...
Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves,
bowing their heads like a reed
and stretching out on sackcloth and ashes?
Is this really what you call a fast,
a day that is pleasing to the Lord” (Isaiah" 58: 3-5)
I have told you that ISAIAH 58 is my go yo chapter in the Bible on fasting. In it Isaiah addresses religion, fasting, and the Sabbath. God begins by declaring, and not in a calm voice but at the top of his lungs, that formal religion does not make a difference in human relationships, and can actually lead to the development of complacency and pride. He speaks against the faithfulness and following of religion and religious practices that are superficial, simply routine, and that people do to be seen as “part of the church crowd” and not of their heart. Persons who practice these assume they are people of God because of these superficial practices, because “they attend church,” because of their tradition and heritage. But because it is not from the heart (which God sees and knows) these practices do not extend to or impact the way they treat other people, especially people who do not have the same power, resources, or are not part of their “In” church crowd. The only reason they have received grace in the first place is to share it with others and allow that grace to flow out of them, true worshippers of God, to everyone around them and make people who do not know God think, “I want that grace that they have.”
Isaiah declares that though people claim or think that their religious practices and purposes are to win special favor with God, their real reason or motive is to gain favor and an advantage in todays dog-eat-dog world and struggle to gain success, possessions, position and power. Is this why God instituted forms of religion? No! God instituted them to be symbols of an attitude of submission, surrender, and trust, that will form a change in the heart and behavior of his people. Without that attitude which is evident in one's life by a change of heart and behavior, the forms of religion then are not sources of divine pleasure to God, but of divine disgust.
My family, I pray you reflect on this morning, Why do you do the forms of religion you do? Why do you read the Bible, attend Sunday church, hang a cross on your wall or around your neck, and pray? Is it to make you feel good about yourself, part of the in crowd, please your spouse or another family member or a source of pride that is hoping God will bless you with a better job, more possessions and an easier more comfortable life? Or are you doing them to create in you a heart and behavior of surrender and submission that those forms of religion where intended to create? One that allows you to imitate Jesus and his heart and enables you to do as God desires of you which is, “I want you to share your food with the hungry and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people. When you see someone naked, clothe him! Donʼt turn your back on your own flesh and blood!”V.7 Prthaps you need to Fast and pray today and get real with your motives and your God, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
I want to encourage to to please take 3 minutes to watch this this video below that wonderfully speaks into the “In Church Crowd” and convicts me every time I watch it.
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
“Thus says the Lord:
“Keep justice, and do righteousness
for soon my salvation will come,
and my righteousness be revealed” v. 1
Isaiah is an amazing book. I hope you can see by are time already spent in it why it has such a great theological impact on the New Testament.
As a side note, the word “Theology” comes from two Greek words: “Theos” meaning ‘God”, and “Logos” meaning “Word.” So Christian theology is simply an attempt to understand God as He is revealed in the Bible. When you hear some talk about the theology of a book, section, or passage of the Bible, they are asking what is what we are reading trying to teach us or reveal to us about God. And a Theologian, is simply a person who invests time and wrestles with discovering and discerning these revelations from God. In our house churches when after reading a bible passage and we ask each other; “What does this passage teach us about God?” “What does it teach us about his relationship to people? We are actually looking into the theology of that passage. So above when I said, “why it (Isaiah) has such a great theological impact on the New Testament.” I am saying that the Jews had an understanding of God and the “Servant” from their reading of Isaiah. This understanding of God and the Servant, was the “lens” through which the Jews, as well as the apostles, Paul, and James experienced Jesus, and God through Jesus, and it comes out in their Gospels and letters. It also comes out in the teachings of Jesus. So it is important to understand this “lens” they are looking through, to understand some of what they experienced and wrote. Just like understanding the “lens” though which someone sees God: in the Church of Christ, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Jehovah Witness, Holiness, Baptist, Morman..ect will give you an insight into how they experience and understand God.
After reading the first 55 chapters, and the closing truths of chapter 55, you would think, Why add anything more? What could possibly be added to the promise of return to their land and the forgiveness of their sins, both by the pure grace of God? What theological understanding did Isaiah feel needed yet to be shared in the last 10 chapters? The central idea of Isaiah I believe is the necessity in the living out of God’s righteousness, given to us by grace as explained in the previous chapters, and the inability of failure of people to do it. Isaiah also looks at the question, What qualifies a person to be among God’s elect? Is it a matter of grace by reason of ones birthright or is it a matter of works?
This whole book flows out of chapter 6 when a “man of unclean lips” sees something of the holy glory of God, receives a fiery cleansing from God, then steps out is trust and obedience to proclaim to Israel the message that there is only One Holy God. In chapters 56-66, Isaiah looks at what happens when “people of unclean lips” get a vision of God, receive grace, forgiveness, and deliverance, and are now enabled to live as God lives.
The grace of God in delivering from uncleanness is not simply for the servants, for only those in the churches enjoyment but in order for the word to get out to all that there is only One Holy God, one righteous Savior and that the whole world needs to know him. The grace of God is free, but those who receive it are called to live it out and all its implications in their life, And there is the problem. It has been demonstrated throughout history over and over people cannot live out their God’s character. Are those who have been delivered from their sins by the grace of God simply doomed to ruin God’s name over and over again? Does the salvation of God involve something more? Is there power in God to enable one to live out the covenant to God in faithfulness-not a power one has gained in oneseslf, but a power that one can constantly draw from God? The answer Isaiah gives in these last 10 chapters is a resounding, YES!! Those who choose to make the Servant an offering for sin may also find in him the power to live the lives of the servants of God.
56:1-8 makes it shockingly clear those who are those servants especially pleasing to God. It is not those who are in the blood line of Abraham. Those who maintain the basic cultic way and religion that define the people. His people are anyone who reveals a loving relationship with him by living his life. It is not to whom or where you were born, but character that marks a servant of God.
My family, You have all received the amazing grace of God. I pray you will reflect this morning and seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance for the ability live out the grace you have received in your daily life:: in your families, neighborhood, workplace, schools, and where ever you day takes you, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
The godly perish,
but no one cares.
Honest people disappear,
when no one minds
that the godly disappear because of evil.
The righteous man perishes,
and no one lays it to heart;
devout men are taken away,
while no one understands.
For the righteous man is taken away from calamity (Isaiah 57:1)
These words hit home today. Isaiah is pointing out that the leaders and leadership in the church and society have lost the sense of spiritual direction and truth that should give meaning to their lives, and they have settled for what always rushes in to fill a spiritual vacuum, the desires of the flesh. The result is a downward spiral for them and those around them. As they become more concerned in pampering themselves and in trying to find meaning in pleasure, the become less able to warn their people, and their lives become more meaningless.
The end is that they become stuck in a rut spiritually and physically, they find themselves repeating the same monotonous tasks and religious routines over and over. We will do tomorrow what we did today.
Those who are supposed to lead the church, lead their communities, and lead their families; are caught in a spiral of increasing concern for their own comfort, satisfaction, and pleasure and are unaware of its result. And because of their failure in leadership, people are caught in the same trap and are unequally unaware of what is happening. What is happening? The righteous person is disappearing from society: faithful men (and women) are dying off and disappearing. And hardly anyone notices it, and those that do notice, do not stop in their consumer driven life long enough to take it to heart. Isaiah states that if they would stop and think about it for a moment, they would see that it is because of evil, and a result of evil that it is happening.
Isaiah wrote this about Israel over 2,500 years ago, and it rings true in Huntsville and Madison today. I may nod and agree with this statement, but what am I going to do about it? Am I going to nod and say it is a shame and continue in my frantic consumer-driven schedule, or am I going to listen to Isaiah’s cry, a cry that comes from the heart of God and take what is happening to heart. Society does not need any more blind, selfish, gluttonous leaders. It needs righteous leaders, but it is they who are disappearing.
My family, I pray you take time to pray throughout the day and take to heart what kind of leaders we are. This is something during this Lent Season that deserves Fasting and Prayer over.. Re-read Isaiah 58 on fasting over this., in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God Bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Good morning Jesus,I need your Spirit to draw me to embrace you this morning , so I cn embrace others throughout my day.
Stop and read the 12 verses of Isaiah 53
Who would have believed what we just heard?
When was the Lord’s power revealed through him? V. 1
The nations will be shocked because they have never heard of a deliver who would be willing to humble himself and fall so low in order to save and deliver the people he rules over. Who could have believed that when the “arm of the Lord” was made known and came to deliver his people it would look like this? The answer is, no one. The shocking essence of the Servant is expanded to include the entire unexpected nature of his ministry.
This man does not fit our picture of God’s deliverer at all. We are not drawn to him or his plans, “He was treated harshly and afflicted, but he did not even open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block.” V.7, rather we are repulsed by him and his plans that we are to pick up a cross as well and follow him..
Jesus’ birth did not shake the Roman Empire. He was not born in a palace destined to be a military leader, he was born in the back of some stable of a village Inn. The revelation of him to the world did not take place in a coronation ceremony with trumpets blasting and crowds cheering. It was simply that of a man quietly coming to the great evangelist of the day, out in the wilderness, and asking to him be baptized. We were expecting a costumed drum major to lead a triumphal parade. We got a broken man carrying a cross. Our eyes get caught up in and prefer superficial splendor. This man, says Isaiah, will have none of that.
“He was despised and rejected by people….v3” He was considered someone worthless, unworthy of attention. In the eyes of the world, He is not one of the winners, he is one of the losers. And losers can not deliver other losers. Thus the revelation of the Servant of the Lord who will deliver the Lord’s people is met with shock, astonishment, distaste, avoidance, and dismissed.
Yet in this Servant, God has found a way to both gratify his love and satisfy his justice.
Isaiah 53 is an amazing premonition, written thousands of years before the birth of Jesus, of who are servant savior would be. It is a revelation of both the extreme love and the extreme justice that is at the heart of God’s desire to save his people, and the instrument through which he will save his people, the Servant, Jesus Christ.
I have spent time in “church” today. This chapter has drawn me to read it over and over. And I could write pages of thoughts on it that are filling my heart and head. I shared just a little of them. I would love to hear your thoughts and revelations from this chapter.
My family, I pray as you read today this chapter that reveals one man’s revelation of who the servant savior of the world will be, you will take time to reflect on who the servant savior, Jesus, is to you. Are you repulsed by Him and His plans that you are to pick up a cross as well, humble yourself, fall low, and follow him? Or are you embracing Him and His plan? And if so, how does your life reveal that you embrace Him and his plan, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Good morning Jesus, Let your Spirit blow on me and through me to breath live into me as I begin my day
“This is what the LORD, the protector of Israel, their Holy One, says
to the one who is despised and rejected by nations, a servant of rulers:“ (Isaiah 49:7)
Isaiah’s focus on this theme of “a servant”is not on presenting servants as we generally think of them. “Servants” as people who are passive and weak, who’s destruction and captivity is evidence of the failure and inability to be delivered by the lesser gods they followed. In this chapter Isaiah introduces to us the “Servant,” the true representation of Israel, who comes with power and who will be God’s agent and bring His covenant to the people and restore justice to all the nations. This Servant of Israel will Himself lead Isreal and it’s people to become what they had always desired to be.
The mighty hand of God is about to be revealed in His deliver of Israel. But instead of it being a military, armor bearing,, laced boot, ass-kicking destroyer of the enemies of the nations, he will be a tender plant, a shoot off Jesse’s root (11:1), an apparent failure, a meek lamb to be slaughtered, However, he will be the one to atone for the sins of the nation and those of the world. And beginning here and in the chapters to follow, salvation is no longer something to be anticipated and longed for but now Israel is being invited to participate in something that has already been achieved. What is the means it will be achieved? The substitutionary death of the Servant for Israel and the world.
God has said that the lives of His people in Israel, because of the atoning sacrifice of the Servant, would be the evidence to the world that he alone is the Holy One. Our lives as people of God, because of the atoning sacrifice of the Servant, who’s name we know, Jesus, are to be the evidence to those we encounter in our daily life that God alone is the Holy one and Jesus is Lord. What God revealed to Isaiah and which Isaiah then spoke about as a future prophecy to come, Jesus confirmed, spoke into and lived out in reality:
As we near the end of another week of Lent, Isaiah’s prophecy speaks into the season to reflect on and praying over the saving acts of our suffering servant, who became our sacrificial lamb on the cross, and by His resurrection, this servant became our savior and redeemer,
My family, Jesus“ main characteristic by which He was known was that of a servant. God sent Him into the world to serve. In Lent, we not only give up things and fast to re-connect with Jesus, we take on ways of serving our neighbors as well. As Jesus said, “Just as the Father sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world…. “I am not praying only on their behalf, but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their testimony…. so that the world will believe that you sent me.” ( John 17:18-22). I pray as the weekend nears you will seek out and enter into ways to serve those in your community this weekend and be a tangible example of the sacrificial love of Christ in their lives, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
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Good morning Lord Jesus, I rest in your peace this morning as I need your peace as I begin my week.
“For a child has been a born to us, a son has been given to us.
He shoulders responsibility and is called:
Wonderful counselor
Mighty God, (God is Warrior)
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace. (And to peace there will be no end)
His dominion will be vast and he will bring immeasurable prosperity.
He will rule on Davidʼs throne and over Davidʼs kingdom,
establishing it and strengthening its by promoting justice and fairness,
from this time forward and forevermore.
The Lord ʼs intense devotion (Zeal) to his people will accomplish this. (“ Isaiah 9:.6-7)
I call the prophet Isaiah “The prophet of Lent”. Isaiah’s message, teaching and prophecies speak into, point to, predict, describe and prophesies on Jesus as the Son of God, the root of Jessie, the Suffering servant, the lamb of God, and the cross. And they were were spoken and written 700 years before the birth of Jesus.
These verses in Isaiah written over 700 years before the birth of Jesus also contain one of the most remarkable prophesy’s of Isaiah on the birth Immanuel. That somehow a virgin-born child would demonstrate that God is with us. Isaiah says, “A child is born to us…” in doing so he admits his sin and includes himself with all people in the need of deliverance. And I include myself as well. The child is presented as the ultimate fulfillment of the Immanuel sign.
Wonderful counselor (Extraordinary stategist): throughout Isaiah we read of the failing of human wisdom as folly, and it’s failing, and deceiving has been shown. By contrast, the Coming One, the “Wonderful Counselor” has a great depth of wisdom. True wisdom that knows in weakness there is strength, in surrender there is victory, and in death there is life.
Mighty God (God is a Warrior) the coming Immanuel will have God’s true might. His true power so great he can absorb all the evil which Satan and his demons hurl against him until he has nothing left to hurl, then defeat and crush his enemy.
Everlasting Father: Some kings have claimed to be :the father of their people”, but this was only temporary. Immanuel’s fatherhood would be forever. A fatherhood that does not impose itself on his children, but rather sacrifices himself for them.
Prince of Peace: It is fitting that after all we read, hear and know of the chaos, disruption, and warring of other kings and rulers, the last title given Immanuel is Prince of Peace. He is a peaceful king. One we know now because of our understanding of the cross, did not establish his peace by brutally squashing all defiance, by the means and example of complete transparency and vulnerability which makes defiance pointless. Some how through Immanuel’s reconciliation between God and man, there is now the possibility of reconciliation between man and man.
“from this time forward and forevermore” Isaiah has an eschatological (study of end times) figure in mind in his prophecy. This king will not be another king among kings in the list of kings of Israel. He will be the final king, the king to end all kings, the king of all kings!
To all above I have written I say Amen! Amen!!!
My family, as you I pray you reflect during Lent you will meditate on these verses in Isaiah and affirm your understanding of the presence of Immanuel in your life today, because He is in your life today, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
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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
