I've been sleeping through the night PTL! But feel like I've lost half a day now. I mean it's normally lunch time for me but it's 8:40 and just writing this. So here's a brief blog for
Good Morning Audaciously Trusting, Loving Community of Servants of God--Slaves of Jesus! Do any of those words apply to you? So they can and might be some words to work on--audaciously trusting Jesus, slaves of Jesus, Loving Community of servants. That one is what St. Matts is becoming known as and as people encounter God's love and care through us, they are finding a gathered and sent community that is united in Christ and God's love--a caring community that is doing what it can with what it's been provided. AMEN! Keep it up! People are noticing and being drawn to God! PTL! And as we begin to disciple these new people they are finding that our MO is learning to live and love like Jesus and audaciously trusting Him to lead, provide and protect as we go share His love individually and as His Body. Dying to self, taking up cross daily and following Jesus, yoked to Him and moving with Him reveals that we are really slaves of Jesus who are sold out to Him and committed to becoming more like Him and learning to walk in His ways, which includes disciple making as we travel through each day and week just as we are. Amen! People are also seeing the example in us that come as you are doesn't mean we stay as we are. We want to, long to, become more like Jesus and to grow into our fuller created potential in Christ. Please Lord!
Check out the I to We devo below and the link they have for discovering your spiritual gifts. Some have done this last year. When we come to Christ He gifts us to spur each other on, grow His Church and to grow into our purposes. Do you know your purposes and the gifts you've been blessed with that may need some work and practice to grow and flourish? Check it out and let's talk and see where God may want to lead you and us. Please find some teammates to work with too! PLEASE! That is the next thing God has for us--developing teams. We are Hi loving, unified community of servants! And there is always improvements we can make as we grow to become more like Jesus and doing more of what we are created for. Then think about the Our Daily bread devo reminding us that even in these hard times God does shelter us and wants to use us too. That reminds me again of the importance of small groups, teams and our community of audaciously trusting, loving servants who are sent by God to change the world! Let's figure out and pray into how He wants to use us for that. Amen! What's God saying to you and what will you do about it? Who are you teammates to pray and process and be accountable with? I'm praying for you and for God to lead us with all of this. Seek and listen and receive as you abide and reload to go ! Amen!
I to WE gifts link
I to We devo
ODB
Shelters of God’s Care
Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm. Isaiah 32:2
On a long family road trip, I spent hours driving through the sparsely populated states of Montana and South Dakota. As I drove, I began to notice a pattern: Vast stretches of farmland were dotted with groves of trees surrounding a house. As I worked hard to keep our van in our lane due to strong winds, it dawned on me that the trees were there for more than beauty. They were also intentionally cultivated windbreakers designed to protect the home and its occupants from the powerful gusts of wind buffeting the landscape.
The prophet Isaiah once described a future in God’s care as a shelter from wind and storm. Having called God’s people to repentance (Isaiah 31:6-7), Isaiah also wrote of a future time when “a king will reign in righteousness” (32:1) and all who rule with Him will be “a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm” (v. 2). The resulting blessing is people who are able to see, hear, understand, and speak truth (vv. 3-4) in peace and safety.
While we still await the full benefits of this promise, we already see God at work through those who actively look out for the interests of others (Philippians 2:3-4). Christ’s Spirit helps us cultivate a safe space where people can flourish even in difficult times. This is a tangible way we can exemplify God’s loving care.
By Lisa M. Samra
REFLECT & PRAY
When have you experienced the protective shelter of a compassionate community? How did that inspire you?
Heavenly Father, please help me to be a shelter to others around me.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
In Isaiah 32, God offers hope through the promise of a time when there would finally be leaders the people could trust. Instead of caring for and protecting the vulnerable, leaders had become the danger from which people needed protection. They could “with a word make someone out to be guilty, . . . ensnare the defender in court and with false testimony deprive the innocent of justice” (29:21).
Against this background of injustice and failure to care for those most in need (32:6-7), Isaiah lifted up the truth that God was still just (v. 1). He insisted that God could be trusted to bring about a future where justice, integrity, and compassion would finally shine through the leaders entrusted to care for others, and each would use their power to provide refuge for those in need (v. 2). , in Christ, believers know and experience the one true, perfect, and just leader who cares for them.
LISTEN ONLINE
