Let's start with the usually TGIF Fri. praises...we do really have so much to be thankful about and especially God's mercy and grace and our forgiveness. Just start there and then flow into the tie in to our independence and all the nuances of that. We have freedom in Christ. We have independence from the law, which we could never keep anyway. We are blessed to live in this land f the free because of the brave. Really we could just stop there and allow you to meditate and praise from there. And so we shall!
Except for me there is one more thing! God is so good a answered so many prayers. Thank your praying! I was literally crying out to Him this morning and He delivered me! And so tomorrow I gain my independence from this place! PTL! Now there are lots of restrictions and adjustments to come, BUT GOD! He is so awesome! Our salvation! Our Freedom! Our deliverance! May God continue to bless America and you and may America bless God always! Amen!
Happy Independence Day and TGIF FRI! Enjoy the day that flows from your praise today!
Hi all! I really am loosing track of days with the lovely extended vacation! (or something like that!) There is the sayin that the church should be like a hospital and not a country club. Think about that. All are welcome and all are treated equally in a hospital. I think I've met most of the staff on my floor. They all care and do what they can to help and make us comfortable. It is a lot like our church. We care. We welcome all. And we do what we can to help others. I keep bragging you up here. If I ever get out of here (maybe this weekend???) things won't be the same for me, or a least at first out of necessity. Unless the Bible verse about God giving us new hearts comes true for me. We all have new spiritual hearts but I sure could us a mending of my physical heart. One of my issues is that my heart is very weak ad doesn't pump very well. BUT GOD! He is able to repair and restore and if not He will carry me until He calls me home. PTL! As Job said, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Praise be the Lord!" So that's the brief update on me. Keep praying. I'd love to be home for the 4th. The other update is that God chose to call Karen's dad home today. He was ready and is fully restored now. Just wish I could be there for Karen. Unfortunately I'm grounded right now. Keep her and her family in your prayers. Her brother, Dave was on his way to New Hampshire with the family for vacation when the call came. This sure has been a bizarre few weeks! Praying for any of you suffering flooding and water damage.
I'm going to try to sleep for a bit before the next awakening at 3. But as I prepare I keep thinking about Eph. 2:10. We are God's craftmanship, masterpieces, works of art at our creation. We are created with all this beauty to God and potential to bless Him and many others. Then something miraculous happens when we get saved...that potential becomes activated as the Holy Spirit comes to live in us and with spiritual gifts and other helps. And these are to help us to fulfill our created purposes. How cool. I just keep going there and trying to wrap my head around God's ways and love! And here's one thing I am being reminded of and learning during this hiatus...It's a natural transition from what was, to what is and what can be. It doesn't involve forcing things. Just being who you are created to be doing what you are created to do. That's all God expects. be you doing what you can with what you've been give! COOL! AMEN! So be you. Love God and others and enjoy this masterpiece life in Christ! Amen! I'm praying for you! Maybe process this with some friends. I know I need accountability to stop forcing things and once in awhile to get moving too! God does have great plans just for you! Discover them!
I've been informed that I will be in the hospital until at least
. when if I am dried out enough they will attempt he cardio version again to get my heart back in rhythm. Before that I am being infused three times a day with Lasik IV's to drain me. Needless to say between that and tests and blood draws, I am sleeping very little. Besides being exhausted, I often have upset stomach and lots of knee and ankle pain because my pains meds have been halted. I appreciate your prayers and my privacy. Thank you!
So, I am going to take the next few days off from blogging and trying to rest and be ready to be healed and released. Thanks for understanding! It's kinda weird anyway doing
's blog at 11PM and before all the devos drop on line.
Hope you all have a great weekend and hope to see you soon! Shalom!
Thank God I'm Forgiven! I've used that more often than I'd like to as I need forgiveness all the time! We all do and God is gracious and will forgive us repentant humble followers. Thanks Lord! This week in the hospital I have had several opportunities to remind people of God's patient loving forgiveness. Have you had the opportunity to share that truth with someone lately? We all often need the reminder that we are and can be forgiven and repeatedly! Thanks Lord! Thank God I'm forgiven and working on not needing that forgiveness as often as I learn and want to walk more like Jesus. Amen! Now with that comes a new command from Jesus love others as I have loved you which actually includes forgiving as we've been forgiven. WELL Thank God I forgiven because that's a hard command to keep. But one we can keep working at. And the Holy Spirit will help us too! PTL!
Thank God I'm Forgiven
opens the door for all kinds of meditations and thanksgivings! What's the Spirit saying to you? What will you do about it?
Good Evening/Morning Forgiven and Forgiving Friends--Jesus in the Flesh! That's you! PTL! So I am writing
blog at 10:30
evening. Why? Well the docs decided to double dose me with diuretics at 4:40 and then after I went to bed at 9. That means I'll be spending the evening purging fluids. They really want to dry me out and I seem to be retaining fluids yet. So, I am writing this before all our devos post online. That's OK as you will have time to spend yourself with God and them in the morning while I hope to be sleeping. They plan some tests etc around 3 am and sleep will follow, Lord willing.
I started contemplating purging, cleansing, repenting and even dying to self. (Lifestyle change is in process already for me!) Loving and forgiving as Jesus has for us requires those as well and taking up cross to be ready to follow Him and live and love more like Him. Jesus address the crowds expecting a conquering king that would overthrow Rome with a different kind of thinking. He washed the feet of the disciples who were jockeying to be first in the kingdom and said He gave an example to follow. Have we embraced that and the new thinking Jesus imparted about what the Kingdom is really like and are we choosing to live it? Jesus said, "If anyone wants to be my disciple he must deny himself, take up His cross daily and follow the Jesus way." That means forgiving, loving, serving and maybe even dying like Him. Thank God I'm forgiven!!!
Really pray into this and ask God to reveal ways we can spur each other on to really love like Jesus. May we earnestly pursue becoming the church the loves like Jesus as we bless God and many others and lead them to this amazing love, grace, mercy and forgiveness! Help us Lord! Amen!
Thank you all for loving so well and your patient love with me! We are love and love lives in us and is coming alive through us! Amen! keep it up! I'm praying for you and me and thanking God we are forgiven too! Shalom!
6-26-25 (Noonish): Plan is to get me home and on track soon and maybe before
. I have AFib that didn't respond to cardio version
. I am now in the cardiac floor at Lehigh. Great team of docs and others from cardiology and other needed docs. Plan is to get me dried out (I've been over load with fluid--congestive heart failure) and trying some new affordable ad more effective meds and send me home to heal and get ready for the future cardio version or oblation. Mentally I am doing well and being patient. PTL! I am also sleeping again. Pray that continues. With the weak heart I am sleeping a lot more and need to. If possible we will be at the brunch but if not, knw we are praying for you all and anxious to get back it!
Good Morning Purposeful Pursuers of God and His Plans! Amen! Is that really you? I know for many of us that gather at St. Matts, we want to know and pursue God and His purposes that He created us to do. He does have great plans and purposes for us to discover, put on and walk around with as His vessels of light, love, hope, and help. We are custom made for custom purposes. There are the big over-arching purposes to achieve over your whole life (like being a pastor for me). There are also little age and circumstance daily or weekly or monthly purposes too. Most of life is paying attention daily to God and walking with Him to His plans for you for that day and that will build to your lifelong purposes. Check out the ODB devo below relating to this as it all begins with keeping Christ our priority, putting on His easy yoke and walking with Him daily. Sometimes those daily plans and purposes are simple and easy but very important as well. Things like holding a door, praying, encouraging, smiling at someone--easy stuff. Sometimes the purposes are more heavy like opening the Bible with someone or some serving caring ministry. No matter because they all matter and are part of God's plans for you and maybe part of us together. The main thing is keeping Christ first and following Him daily and that may (usually does) require dying to self and taking up cross daily and then following Him. That's being a Purposeful Pursuers of God and His Plans. Amen. Help us with that Lord!
Now, God has some adjustments for us along the way! Have you experienced that ever?
I have and am in one of those adjustment periods where God is reminding me to hold looser, trust more, die to self, crucify some things and allow Him to mold and lead. He does have perfect plans that I have been assuming upon a bit and maybe even forcing some things according to my plans. And He said, "Whoa down Donald!" Rest. Abide. Listen. Follow. Hold loose. And do what you can with what you've been given. That's all I expect. That's His easy joyful yoke! Amen
So again, as in the past God gets my attention with hospital visits. I usually come out obeying but in short order end up back where I was. Thick-headed just like the disciples and wanting to do my things my ways. We are called to be followers of the WAY not people forcing my way. Think we'd learn! Thank God for patient love, mercy, grace and forgiveness! And for new starts. I am beginning again to allow Him to lead me to His plans and purposes at His pace--doing what I can with what I've been given for such a time as this. Pray into that with me! Maybe some of you need some adjustments too? I'm praying for you and would love to chat and plan some time soon! His plans are best and easy and a joy. When you start getting bogged down, angry, forcing things--stop! Be still, abide, find joy and peace and follow His Way well. That's life abundant we are promised. And man it is really good when we find that sweet spot! After meditating on this check out the Upper Room talking about our life long friend, Jesus, who promises to be with us always! PTL! Focus on Him and allow Him to lead and things will go smoothly and really be a joy! And He is our healer, deliverer and restorer too! Amen!
So thoughts to pursue with God and some friends
are to be: Purposeful Pursuers of God and His Plans where Christ is our priority and walking with Him at His pace for such a time as this is first on our agendas! And we will need each other to do that well! Come Jesus lead us and unite us with likeminded and those You have for us
. Thanks! Amen!
ODB
Christ Our Priority
Jesus replied, “ . . . That is why I have come.” Mark 1:38
“May we invite you to be the main speaker in our nationwide church leadership conference?” After Jose read the invitation from the renowned organization, he replied, “Please let me pray about it first.” Later, when he turned down the offer, he told a friend, “I knew God was calling me to editorial work on a mission’s project, and the speaking engagement would take time and energy away from that. I said no so I can do what God wants me to do.”
What God wants me to do—that was Jose’s priority and what determined his decision. Jesus also made God’s purpose His priority. The morning after healing many in Capernaum who were sick and demon-possessed, Jesus went to a solitary place to pray (Mark 1:32-35). The disciples came, saying, “Everyone is looking for you!” (v. 37). Some of those seeking Him were likely requesting healing. Christ, however, didn’t allow urgency or His sudden popularity to determine what He’d do next. “Let us go . . . to the nearby villages,” He said, “so I can preach there also. That is why I have come” (v. 38). Jesus followed His priority—a ministry that covered the rest of Galilee, and one that included preaching (v. 39).
How may we know God’s purpose for us? We can approach Him in prayer, be led by His wisdom found in the Scriptures, and seek counsel from people who uphold His ways. Let’s spend our life doing what God wants us to do.
By Karen Huang
REFLECT & PRAY
How can you be intentional about asking God to lead you? How have you seen God help you live with His purpose?
Dear God, please show me what You want me to do.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Mark 1:38 declares that Jesus’ mission is to preach the gospel. On a few occasions in the Gospels, Christ reveals in a deep and intimate way that He understands His mission. In Luke 4:18-19, He quotes the prophet Isaiah (61:1-2) to reveal to those listening in the synagogue who He is. Christ’s ministry included both the preaching of forgiveness and spiritual freedom as well as freeing those who were bound by various physical infirmities. During the years of His ministry, He never veered from that dedication. And He also entrusted that ministry to His disciples. He empowered them to preach the kingdom and heal the sick. They even drove out demons (see Matthew 10; Luke 10). Before Christ returned to the Father, He entrusted His mission to all His followers (see Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8). God continues to show us what He wants us to do and how He wants to use us to share the gospel with others.
J.R. Hudberg
UR: Life Long Friend
Jesus said, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” - Matthew 28:20 (NRSVUE)
I never had a best friend growing up. I was a child of a career military officer, and my family moved 10 times by the time I was 13 years old. It seemed that as soon as I made a friend, my father would get orders to a new duty station, sometimes thousands of miles away. I vividly remember the hugs and tears during several partings with childhood friends. When my family settled in an area for several years when I was a teenager, I had a difficult time keeping friends. I held them at arm’s length, refusing to get too close emotionally. The hurt from all those childhood good-byes truly impacted my life.
When I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior as an adult, I found him to be the lifelong friend I had never had. He is always with me, guiding, rescuing, helping, protecting, listening, and loving me. Jesus provides all of us with everlasting joy, hope, and peace. He has promised never to leave or forsake us. We can get to know Jesus by reading his words, following his example, and praising his name. Whatever life throws at us, we know we have Jesus, our friend who is just a prayer away.
's PrayerDear Jesus, thank you for your presence with us. Help us to stay conscious of you in all circumstances. Amen.
Hi all! Thanks for you prayers! My cardio version did not work
. It will be attempted in the future as new meds take effect. I will be in the hospital until at least
. I will be very tied up and ask for no visitors please! Thanks for understanding! They told me that I will be "living in the bathroom the next few days."
I am getting massive doses of Lasik/diuretics and some new meds they are experimenting with. They say my heart is weak and my body is flooded with fluids. They are working on improving that and getting me ready to try to fix the A Fib. So we know some more and have some more to discover--much like our journey with Christ! My journey now is to slow down, listen, learn and adjust lifestyle. Oh yeah, that's like following Jesus as well! Good and healthy things of God do carry over into everyday life!
There is still much to learn, discern and apply for me and for us as a church! God does have great plans for us that come alive as we surrender, receive and step out in faith! Can't wait to see where this all leads! I'm praying for you all and I know you are praying for me and I fell it! Let us keep choosing well and healthy in Christ and life! Amen!
I'll update you sometime as more becomes visible. Until them keep trusting the Holy Spirit to help you to go live and love like Jesus! And keep praying and sharing your stories!
Good evening friends. Thanks for praying, encouraging and being there and flexible! Keep praying and trusting God to lead me and us to His perfect plans . He does have good plans for us even when it may seem anything like it.
Update: God is in the process of turning my heart of stone to one of flesh. He's renewing my thinking and helping me to make much better health, life and leadership choices. It's like I've been given a second opportunity to get it right with health choices and trusting God choices too. Thanks Lord. May I not be so slow the next time to catch on and correct! And may I choose much more wisely moving forward.
I have cardio version to fix AFib. Then a whole bunch of follow up and new specialists appointments ahead. I will be recovering at home next few weeks. We will restart things after
. In the meantime ask God how you can bless Him, each other and those He is drawing. Step into your anointing!
God is teaching me a lot and working on my heart and bringing all things together for good. My job is to turn off the noise and focus on Him and follow well. It's gonna be much more of doing less...really just doing with what I've been given as I follow Jesus at His pace. So maybe there will be blogs and maybe not for awhile. Just know I am seeking, listening and following Him as I travel through this journey. And know I'm praying for you all too. God loves us, is with us always and has great plans to discover. Amen
Thank you all for your prayers and support!!! God is for us! Amen
Good Morning Spirit-Filled Worshipers! What a joy it is to sing, dance, celebrate and worship our amazing God!!! Have you told Him lately how much you love and appreciate Him? Have you lifted a song of praise or danced before our Lord. That's your assignment for
: worship, celebrate sing and dance before our King! When's the last time you just dwelt in His loving presence worshiping? What joy we know and get to share as we abide and he inhabits our praise! Check out the Sarah Young devo below that led me to this thinking
. I need to just worship and allow Him to lead be beside the still waters, sink my roots deep in Him and be restored! Joy does (or it can, if you choose) come in the morning! Yes Rejoice! He is enough and will supply all our needs! PTL! He is working all things together for good! PTL! he is with us always! PTL! He has unique plans for unique you! PTL! How about lifting some psalms
?
Psalm 16:5-11
New Living Translation
5 Lord, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing.
You guard all that is mine.
6 The land you have given me is a pleasant land.
What a wonderful inheritance!
7 I will bless the Lord who guides me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I know the Lord is always with me.
I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
9 No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice.[a]
My body rests in safety.
10 For you will not leave my soul among the dead[b]
or allow your holy one[c] to rot in the grave.
11 You will show me the way of life,
granting me the joy of your presence
and the pleasures of living with you forever.[d]
Good Morning Worshipers! Prepare your hearts to worship
and pray that we worship in Spirit and truth and enter His courts with
! Amen! There is so much we have to worship about! Let us prepare to lift a sacrifice of praise!
Sometimes like these sleepless, wondering early mornings, it can truly be a sacrifice to lift praise. Why Lord needs to be replaced with OK Lord, You've got this! Hallelujah! Another visit to the ER
for a fluttering heart answered no more questions than five weeks ago. So, causes have yet to be discovered, BUT GOD! He knows, cares, loves me and is working all things together for good! PTL! I have been preparing my heart since midnight to enter His courts with praise and to allow Him to lead and use me. And maybe I can get an hour or two nap in yet! PTL! God's got a perfect plan and has allowed this all for a reason...PTL! Maybe it's to slow me down and to spend some time abiding in the Vine for a season? PTL! PTL for all the servants and patient friends at St. Matts as they step in and fill gaps in my absence to heal. Yes PTL!
Ok enough of that. Check out our devos for
that really tie to my life right now. Start with TWFYT's reminder to not be afraid of aging. I'm not afraid but coming to the reality that I cannot do as much as I used to or for the same periods of time. It's a season to abide, discern and only do what he has for me
. And that's enough and an act of worship...doing what I can with what I've been given according to His plans and timing. Amen! And Sarah Young's devo flows right from this. Be thankful always. Lift those sacrifice of praise and receive a better attitude! The UR is all about what I strive for...hearing well done from God some day as I complete my race well. Guess what, that takes adjusting as we go to age, circumstances, provisions, etc. Yet God is still pleased as we do what we can with what we got! PTL! And ODB wraps things up with the reminder to leave it all with God and trust Him. He is able! he is Jireh! he knows and cares! PTL! He is our Rock and sure Foundation! Amen! Turn off the noise and focus on Him and His perfect plans for you
...
has enough of it's own worries. Put on that easy custom made yoke and walk with Jesus as you worship
and everyday ahead at His pace for you. And keep worshiping as we aim towards completing our races well! Yes PTL!
What's God saying to you as you process these devos and/or open your Bibles? he is speaking and He does have a word and plan for you. Seek Him with all your heart and process with some friends as you team up to finish the race. And keep praising--even in the storms!
TWFYT
Sarah Young
UR: Living in Mercy and Hope
His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.” - Matthew 25:23 (NIV)
I like sitting quietly in the pew in our small church before the worship service. The sunlight filters through the beautiful stained-glass windows, depicting stories from the Gospels. Long ago, such artwork helped people who may not have known how to read learn and remember the stories of Jesus. They continue to prompt me to reflect on their messages for my life
.
On a recent
I was sitting in my usual spot between the windows illustrating the parables of the prodigal son and the good and faithful servant. I observed that in both stories the main characters are welcomed and embraced. One is forgiven for his past errors while the other is affirmed for his correct choices.
I thought about how living to serve Jesus is often a struggle. We have to start afresh each day in gratitude for God’s mercy and seek God’s help through the Spirit to love God and one another. It isn’t always easy.
Oh, how much I hope to hear those words from Jesus: “Well done, good and faithful servant!” But I am grateful for the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness that I see in the story of the prodigal son. I can seek to serve the Lord by also extending mercy and forgiveness to others in my life.
's PrayerMerciful God, help us to extend mercy and forgiveness to others as we remember the mercy and forgiveness you have given us. Amen.
ODB:
Leave It with God
The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. Psalm 18:2
Perched high on the climbing wall, Sarah could feel panic rising as her weakening fingers began losing grip on the handholds. Just how hard will I hit the ground? she wondered.
But the instructor kept calling out assurances from below. As the “belayer” tethered to the other end of the rope tied to Sarah’s harness through a pulley, his weight would hold her if she fell. “I’m much heavier than you!” he yelled. “Just let go.”
So she did—and simply swung away from the wall to dangle safely in the air.
The incident gave Sarah a new perspective of the picture of God in Psalm 18:2: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock . . . my stronghold.” Sarah observed, “God is so much heavier than all my problems. I can let go of my worries and fears, and He’ll catch me.”
King David sang the words of Psalm 18 after God rescued him from “deep waters”—these were his “powerful [enemies]” looking to bring about his “day of . . . disaster” (vv. 16-18). Even if his troubles didn’t disappear, he knew he could trust his all-powerful Savior and that God was holding on to him tightly.
By Leslie Koh
REFLECT & PRAY
What does it mean, in practical terms, to “let go” of a worry and leave it with God? How can you learn to surrender your fears to Him?
Dear Father, thank You that I can let go of all my worries, fears, and anxieties, knowing that You’re in complete control of my life and will keep me from falling.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
In the superscription to Psalm 18, we read that David wrote this psalm and sang it to God “when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.” David was on the run from King Saul for more than a decade. Some estimate he was pursued for fifteen years. After David returned from killing Goliath and the Philistine army was destroyed, the women came to greet him and sang this song: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands” (1 Samuel 18:7). This so aroused Saul’s anger and jealousy that “from that time on Saul kept a close eye on David” (v. 9). In Psalm 18, David’s love for and trust in God is immediately evident in his names for Him. He calls God his strength, rock, fortress, deliverer, shield, horn of salvation, and stronghold (vv. 1-2). This same God can be trusted to help us as we leave our fears and worries with Him.
Good Morning Eternal Children of God! AMEN! We wrapped up 1 John
with the reminder that God is life and eternal life is found only in Jesus. John wrote this letter to assure the new generation of believers of their promised eternity and to remind them that God is Light, Love and Life and He wants to bring His Light and love alive through us. He also wrote to battle some false prophets and to help the church turn off that noise and focus on Truth and Life in Christ. Check out TWFYT below and how it ties to this word. I love when God does that! And then there's the ODB reminder that we can throw off all that entangles us and keeps us from God's best and learn to run our races well with Christ.
God loves you, made a way for eternity with Him and a way to forgiveness. We just have to choose to open these free gifts, repent, renew our thinking and pursue Jesus as we run our races until we are called home. And when we are what joy we will find in God's Light, love, life and presence! Amen!
TWFYT
ODB:
Entangled
Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. Hebrews 12:1
Watermelon vines had overtaken my garden. They snaked across the stone path, climbed the fence, and—worst of all—tried to choke my favorite vegetable plants. I knew the garden wouldn’t thrive unless I took action. So, one evening I went to work uncurling tendrils from stems and leaves. When the coils grew back, I kept removing them until the vegetable plants finally matured and produced plump tomatoes and shiny peppers.
Sins like greed, lust, and hate can overtake our lives like the vines that tried to dominate my garden. Left untended, the seed of a wrong thought may develop until it controls our desires and actions like a “sin that so easily entangles” (Hebrews 12:1) and holds us back from growing spiritually.
The writer of Hebrews encourages us to “throw off everything that hinders” so that we can “run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (v. 1). To break free requires that we acknowledge we need help to handle the sin. This can be difficult if we’ve convinced ourselves and others that it’s not a serious issue.
Once we sincerely admit the problem, Jesus welcomes our prayers of confession and forgives us immediately (1 John 1:9). He can show us how to change our life patterns and, through the power of the Holy Spirit, help us to overcome the bondage that prevents us from flourishing.
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
REFLECT & PRAY
What sin has the power to make you fall repeatedly? How does God want you to address this problem?
Dear God, please forgive me for the actions and attitudes that grieve You and help me change from this point forward.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The original audience of the letter to the Hebrews was Jewish believers in Jesus who may have considered reverting back to Judaism or were straying toward false teachings (see 2:1-4; 3:1-4). Many scholars believe the book was written before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in ad 70 because it includes references to Jewish ceremonies and sacrifices. The author understood that the readers would need perseverance to face trials and persecution. Hebrews encourages believers to endure and hold fast to Christ (2:1-4; 3:7–4:13; 5:11–6:2). In chapter 11, known as the “Hall of Faith,” the author commends the many men and women of the Bible who lived by faith and sometimes died because of it. Therefore, because of their witness and example, believers in Christ are prompted to “throw off everything that hinders”—including sin—and “run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (12:1).
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