Good morning Lord Jesus. Help me begin my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. ...
"Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.... Then the devil took Him to the holy city.... Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain.... Jesus said to him, 'Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him.'' Then the devil left Him, and suddenly angels came and waited on Him" (Matthew 4:1-11)
Lord,. Even You, holy and without sin, were both led by the Spirit to places at times and taken by the devil to places at times, according to the Word of God. You were "in all ways tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). You always knew how to respond. You always embraced all the Spirit had for You and always rejected all the devil had for You. By the power of Your grace, may I learn to do the same.
Thank You for the promise of Your Word, "All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God" (Romans 8:14). And for Your promise, "When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide (me) into all the truth" (John 16:13). I am Your child and You are my Father. Come lead me by Your Spirit into Your truth. Empower me to discern and resist every temptation of the devil. "No temptation has overtaken (me) except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow (me) to be tempted beyond what (I) am able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that (I) may be able to bear it" (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Let Your Word be hidden in my heart so that I can declare what is written; and let Your Spirit guide my spirit so that I'm certain where I am and who led me there or took me there. Then -- no matter whether it was You or the devil -- You'll cause it all to work together for good in the fulfillment of Your plans and purposes (Romans 8:28). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you will spend time in prayer and reading God’s Word this morning to help you learn to discern when your in a place where the Spirit has led you or where the devil has taken you. I pray this so you will be led by the Spirit through every temptation with God's Word hidden in your heart and God's Spirit guiding your spirit, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
As we read through the New Testament 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!
READING THROUGH THE NEW TESTAMENT IN 2025 WE JUST STATRTED LAST WEEK! YOU CAN STILL JOIN US!
There are 260 chapters of the Bible in the New Testament (NT).
There are also 260 weekdays, Mon-Fri in a Year.
So if you read just one chapter of the NT, just 5 days a week. , Mon-Fri, you will read through the whole NT in a year. So I would like for us to join together in reading through the NT in 2025. And in 2025 I am going to use the daily NT reading for my weekday morning ODC Daily Message devotion blog so we can reflect on the readings together..
Select the time you want to receive a daily email stating the days chapter reading
Enter the email you want the daily email sent to
Click on subscribe!
You will be sent an email tyou need to click on to confirm subsciption Then, starting Jan 1st every weekday morning you will get an email with the days NT chapter reading.
You can invite others, family members, friends to join in. It does not matter where they live. When my father was alive in Cleveland I had him subscribe so he could read through the Bible with us as well. Let me know if you have any questions!
