Lord of Lords, King of Kings, I come before your throne seeking your mercy, grace and protection over my family and my life this morning…

“Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.”  (Matthew 9:35) 

As we read Matthew chapter 9 this morning, it is a chapter full of examples of Jesus going out into his community with love and the outpouring of power and miracles: because he had compassion for them (v.36).  Jesus wiped away a mans sins, (v.2), healed a paralytic man, (v.6), you had dinner with sinners (v.10), healed a woman from a hemorrhage (v.20), raised a young girl from the dead (v.25), gave sight back to two blind men (v.30), cast out demons (v.32), and healed people of every kind of sickness and disease (v.35).  Jesus, you loved people and wanted to meet their physical needs, but your main purpose was not meeting their physical needs, but their spiritual needs.  The main words you desired people to hear were not that they were physically healed, but the Gospel, the “Good News” that they could be saved.  

Jesus you know I am a decent person.  That I have a desire to meet people’s physical needs for food, clothing, shelter, safety and healing.  Yet people do not need simply my decency, they need you.  They do not need to hear that I am a “nice man” but the Gospel of your saving grace.  

Over this weekend Friday and Saturday I went out into the cold, drove my truck out in the snow and ice and picked up backed goods from several Publix stores. I then took them and handed them out to Waffle House employees, neighbors in need and the Downtown Rescue Mission. If I simply meet these peoples physical needs out of my decency it would have been a good thing. I will be liked and my popularity will increase. However, if I never mentioned Jesus and directed them to him as the source of my decency, my ministry will decrease.  As my “decency” can not save anyone.  Like you Jesus, help me keep the first thing first when I meet someone, which is sharing the Gospel and that the Kingdom of God is at hand.  Help me push past  nice, safe, conversations with my friends, neighbors and co-workers, that reflect my decency and enter into kingdom conversations that reflect your saving works of the cross and resurrection.

My family, I pray today and this week you intentionally go beyond the “nice” ”comfortable” level of conversations you have with those in which whom you work, play, hang-out with and serve.  I pray you enter your calling not to simply be a nice person to the them out of your decency, but a harvester of their souls out the Gospel.   In Jesus’ name.  Please pray the same for me.  God bless you my friends!

.As we read through the New Testament, I can not post a reflection on an entire chapter, but what verses stood out to me. I would love for you to post what stood out to you or your thoughts/reflections from the days chapter reading with myself or others using the comment box below. Thank you!

Begin 2025 by resolving to partner with us!

 I want to ask you to resolve this year in partnering with my wife, myself, and One Direction Community by supporting our ministries!   We begin a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this. If you click on the link below you can easily set up a weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly auto donations in the amount you desire. . We would be so grateful for your help.  You can also give a one-time donation on the same link.  Thank you!

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 Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower

One Direction Community

Email: garyl@onedirection.community

Website: https://www.onedirection.community

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 It’s not to late! , JOIN IN!!

We started January 1st the journey of reading through the New Testament in a year. This plan has only one chapter to read each weekday. There are no assigned readings on the weekend. The plan we will use is from Bibleplan.org.  Click the button below to go to the site, enter the starting date January 1, 2025, enter your email, and a time you want to receive an email reminder, then click subscribe. Then you will receive an email confirmation to click on.  Every weekday then you will receive an email reminder of the chapter reading for that day. 

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