2024 Prayer Guide : simplebooklet.com

3PASTOR’S KICK OFFCopyright© 2024 by One Church @Harvest PointCover Photo by Donte Cherry: Picture shows One Church @Harvest Point congregation in posture of prayer and worshipPearland, TX, USA © One Church @Harvest PointEditorial Team: Tameka Tennison, ShalundaBates, Philip Ughanze, Donte CherryAcknowledgments: Scripture taken from various Bibleversions English Standard Version® (ESV®), New KingJames Version® (NKJV®), New American Standard Bible® (NASB®), New International Version (NIV®), NewLiving Translation® (NLT®)You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce anddistribute in whole or in part this publication providedthat you do not alter the wording in any way (or, if applicable make it clear that it is an excerpt), do not charge a fee of any kind for the copied material (including cost for compensation for reproduction cost) and clearing attribute One Church @Harvest Point as the source of the material. Please include the following statement on any distributed or web-posted copy: “By One Church @Harvest Point and Bethel’s Family atwww.harvestpoint.org.”For webposting, a link to our website is requested.For more information email hello@harvestpoint.org.is is a digital publication

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8Two words come to mind as we engage in this prayer time together: priority and expectation. Regarding the former, it is easy to be consumed with the busyness of the day and bypass the opportunity for intentional, poignant prayer,particularly at the start of the day. Many times, as soon as we awaken, we oen focus on the various tasks that lie ahead of us, and some-times, we miss those crucial intimate moments of prayer. e question we are asking this morning is,“Do we make prayer a priority daily?” Even if we do make it a priority, there are times that our minds begin to wander in the middle of the prayer. Secondly, “Do we pray with expec-tation”? Even if we have a normal rhythm of prayer, what do we expect God to do with it? Do we sit in anticipation when we lay out be-fore the Lord? Do we leave room for Godto respond? In Psalm 5:1-3, David writes,1 Give ear to my words, O Lord; considermy groaning 2 Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray. 3 O Lord, in the morning you hear myvoice; in the morning I prepare a sacricefor you and watch.As David considered the injustices around him, he rst called on the Lord to consider and give attention to his prayer. Notice that David said, “consider my groaning.” Sometimes, the pressure we experience is so heavy that we can’t even formulate words to describe our unde-sirable state. e good news is that God can hear our words and inner thoughts. He hears our thoughtful formal prayers and moments when all we have to oer are groans and sighs. Whether the prayer takes 10 minutes or 10 seconds, God is fully aware and able to discern our prayers. With every new day, David found renewal. He repeated the phrase” in the morn-ing” to remind us of renewal and priority. at every morning provides a new opportuni-ty to go to the Lord in prayer, he has positionedhis prayer to precede his daily tasks. is is the proper posture in good and bad seasons. We ought not to come to God with regularity under challenging moments and distress only but alsowhen things are well and prosperous. In ad-dition to making prayer a priority, the end of verse three tells us that he prayed with expecta-tion and watched for an answer. Sometimes we miss God’s answer because we are not lookingfor it. We drop prayers o in the morning and then tune God out for the rest of the day. In-stead, we should sit in anticipation of what God will do or how He might respond. Let us pray!PASTOR’S KICK OFF

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10CORPORATE REVIVALA PASSION & ZEAL FOR THE KINGDOM OF GODBY DR. LEONETTE LEWISROMANS 12:1112Don’t be lazy when hard work is needed, but serve the Lord with spiritual fervor. Rejoice in your hope, be patient in your trou-bles, and continue steadfastly in prayer.Oh, that the Lord would have me to give input on a powerful scripture as such when I am presently in an individual battle; a battle that requires so much of my strength. I question whether to give in to my feelings (tempo-rary) or remain faithful and obe-dient to the call and His written word (eternal). Every ber with-in me knows what I should do to walk in my transformed life (in Christ), but the battle is real right now; this spiritual war is exhausting.Can the love I have for Him keep me serving Him faithfully? Am I committed to service while believing in Him for a changed outcome? I’ve, for a very long time considered myself to be a slave to the Lord, possessing zeal, diligently serving Him and His people. However, as I ponder, my thoughts are, how great can my love be, for Him, if someone or a temporary cir-cumstance can alter my view and obedience to Him?e Scripture tells us to keep a desire, focus, and passion-lled heart for God. is is vital because Kingdom work is not easy work, but our minds must be set. We must depend on Him and look to Him for the power required for the work and the victory, as Jesus did. Our oppo-nents are not physical but spiri-tual. However, the longer we are in it, the more recognizable they become.e God we serve is not into moderate praise. He’s not into the middle-of-the-road devotion to Him. He wants us to serve Him with all that we possess, regardless of what we are faced with. e battle is a part of the life of a Christian and faithfulness to Him is the key.Isaiah 59:17, tells us, “Jesus put on righteousness as His breastplate, salvation as a helmet on His head; He clothed himself with garments of ven-geance and wrapped Himself in a mantle of zeal.” His clad and cloak represented His desire, mindset, and passion to fulll His Father’s will.Sisters and brothers, in this New

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11Year that the Father has allowed us to continue in the work of the church; gird yourselves up mentally, put on your artillery, utilize your weapons eectively, and keep your eyes on the prize. His will shall be done!PRAYERPraised are You, Adonai our God, King of the heavens and earth, who gives the Word of truth and the good news of salvation through Your Son, Jesus the Mes-siah, our Lord. We humbly thank You for loving and adopting us into Your royal family, giving us passion and purpose for the Kingdom, and the life granted to us in this New Year. Father, we rededicate our lives to You. We shall honor You authenti-cally through obedience. We commit to Your service by yield-ing to the leading and movement of the Holy Spirit in our lives daily so that Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Loving Father, as we awaken each day, looking to You, ignite within us a ery passion and astonishing zeal for the implementation of our Kingdom assignments. Strengthen our hearts, minds, and bodies dai-ly as we put on Your armor for the work of the ministry and the bat-tles that are before us. Ever pres-ent God, grant to Your servants, all boldness needed to speak Your truth, lay hands on the sick so they will recover, come against the works of the enemy, and the fear that seeks to diminish the out-working of the Holy Spirit. Grant to us clarity of speech, and the ability to relate with condence to Who You are, the life and ministry of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the work of the church. We will work the works of You, Father, who have sent us, while it is day.LORD, though the people of the world see us, we will point them to You, for our condence is in You, the Great LORD and God, the One who is able to keep us from falling and present us faultless before His throne, the all-wise God, majesty, dominion and power belongs to You, in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

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12PSALM 51:1012Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.Sin has a keen way of making us feel unloved and unwanted. e moment of despair and the feeling of hopelessness is all too familiar when we sin and act opposite of our position in Christ. e sense of joy is lost because we have allowed our esh to guide us instead of the holy spirit. Psalm 51 comes on the heels of a sinful mistake that cost David dearly. e goodness and joy for David and us is that it doesn’t destroy our salvation in Christ Jesus.David writes this Psalm aer Nathan holds him accountable for his sin with Bathsheba. David is not only remorseful but nds joy in knowing God renews the rm power of the holy spirit in us. King David wanted the source of his holy living to be renewed on the inside. We should all want a refreshed and renewed spirit even in moments where we disobey God. It is only by the spirit that we can grow and mature. We don’t have to worry about being thrown away or losing the gi of the indwelling of his spirit.Why? Well that answer is simple: our salvation through Jesus is not conditional which is why our joy can be restored. Its restored because salva-tion found in Jesus is nal and that God has us even through our mistakes he is working and rening us as his children. Be encouraged because God is not only renewed but he is also a sustainer which is why our joy should be o the charts. PRAYERFather God,ank you for being an awesome God that forgives faithfully. ank you for never throwing us away even when we stray and make sinful decisions. We pray that we don’t forget the magnitude of salvation and the great joy found in a renewing God that sus-tains. Lord, when we fall short and do things outside of your will please renew our spirit and let your sacrice on Calvary bring us joy.RESTORING THE JOY OF SALVATIONBY JUSTIN MCLEAN

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14CORPORATE REVIVALA PASSION FOR PEOPLE TO COME TO FAITH IN JESUSROMANS 9:1-3I am speak-ing the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me wit-ness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and un-ceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For bI could wish that I myself were caccursed and cut o from Christ for the sake of my brothers,1 my kinsmen daccording to the esh.I remember years ago while I was in the military doing a land navigation course in some woods in Pennsylvania. I got disoriented at one point and was completely lost. ere was no one around that could have helped me gure out where I was or which direction I needed to go. is was a scary place to be because I was isolated from the other soldiers and just wandering in the woods, hoping I would nd some marker or guide that looked familiar. I was hoping someone would show up and just be there to help me nd my way. Everyday there are people who walk around lost right past us and we are looking beyond them. We have the answer to helping them nd their way and oen we say nothing. Paul writes in Romans chapter 9 verses 1-3 that he has great sorrow and anguish for the fact that some are cut -o from Christ. It’s this type of passion or burden that we all should have, to share the Gospel with such conviction and clarity that it is our life’s mission to see others come to faith. Paul says his sorrow is so great that he would rather be cut o from Christ himself than to see others cuto from Christ. at is heavy for sure, but kind of reminds me of one who laid down his life for us. Jesus was so intentional on us being able to come to faith and be reunited with him that he laid down his life on the cross. Paul is saying, listen, if it means that my brothers get to experience communion with God, I am willing to be cut o. Wow. Can you see it, the passion that he must have had just to desire that others get to experience God. By the grace of God, we don’t have to be cut o to see others saved, but God is calling us to be passion-ate for the lost. In Matthew Chapter 10, sent the when Jesus sent the twelve apostles out, he told BY PASTOR JAMES HOLSTON

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15them in verse 6 to go to the lost sheep. You know this passion is shown in the parable of the lost sheep in Matthew 18, Jesus said the man le the 99 in search of 1 and then passionately rejoiced when the 1 was found. Listen One Church, in this season of growth, expansion, merge, and everything else, God is call-ing us to be passionate about his children coming to know him. God has not stopped desiring for souls to be saved, and he is calling us to a passion that grieves us for the souls of others. Let’s make it our mission to plant seeds of hope, to be the light to those lost in the darkness or be the guide to those lost in the wilder-ness like I was years ago.PRAYERLord, we just want to pause for a moment and say thank you for your grace that has us here today. Lord, because of the sacrice you made on the cross we are guaranteed new life in you and for that we are grate-ful. We know God that there are others out there, dis-connected and cut o from you. Lord would you lead us to them. God let us be the light that points them to you, let us show love to others that makes them know your love for them God. Our hearts are grieved Lord for those who are far from you. Order our steps God and lead us to opportunities to encounter those who do not know you. Lord, would you remove any barriers, demolish any strongholds in the minds and the doubt in the hearts of those who you will send us to. Do a work in us God and on us, make us uncomfortable in not sharing you with others. Make our hearts yearn for the good news being awakened in the hearts of others God. And Lord today, we posture ourselves to rejoice, for every new believer that receives the gi of salvation. ank you for your reigniting a passion for the lost in us today, in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

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16PSALM 107:9For he satises the thirstyand lls the hungry with good things.You are probably familiar with the term “self-righ-teous”. A person generally uses this term to refer to someone else who may perceive themselves as ho-lier than others like the Pharisees. It has a negative connotation, and most people don’t like for others to think of them in a negative light. However, we are all guilty of thinking this way at times. How else would we justify our choices if we didn’t think that they were the best choices to make in a situa-tion? Still, have you ever truly pondered how your thoughts and ways pale next to God’s righteous-ness? is thought alone makes me want to fall to my knees in worship! We could never compete with God’s righteousness. Righteousness is the state or condition of per-fectly conforming to God’s perfect law and holy character. You may ask, “What is the point?”. God already knows that we are not righteous. First, the self-evaluation is for us to understand that we are not comparable to God in righteousness. Next, we must recognize that only God is inherently righteous. In this recognition, we long to be in the right relationship with God and for His righteous character. is doesn’t mean that we want to BE God himself. It means that we desire to please God and be near God. We all fall short of the glory of God, but through faith alone, God will impute His righteousness to sinners. What a gi! Finally, we must seek His righteousness and not our own. e Snickers candy bar has a slogan that says, “Snickers satises.” Perhaps if you are hungry, a Snickers would oer momentary satisfaction but also possibly an upset stomach. Does a candy bar truly satisfy your hunger? No, but it is a great distraction. I would argue that candy doesn’t truly satisfy your hunger if you’ve ever eaten a delicious meal. God’s righteousness is that delicious meal. It is lling and unlike a Snicker’s, it won’t leave you with a tummy ache. e problem is that we of-ten become distracted by what looks fullling – our own egos, good works, or idol gods. Just as we ourselves cannot compete with God’s righteous-ness, neither can those things. e bible tells us if we truly seek God’s righteous-ness that our hunger will be satised for that right relationship with God.

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18AUTHENTIC FELLOWSHIPCONTINUALLY WALK IN LOVEEPHESIANS 5:2And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave him-self up for us, a fragrant oering and sacrice to God. When a toddler is learning to walk, he or she may stumble a few times, but eventually they will learn to walk consistently without a walker or someone having to hold their hand. ey will not only master the skill, but will do it naturally, freely, and without thinking. Walking will become second nature.As we consider this example of learning to walk, we can apply it to our key verse in Ephesians 5:2. e Apostle Paul is providing instructions for Christian living to the church at Ephesus. He encourages them to walk in love. When new Christians are rst learn-ing to walk in love they may stumble and fall. ey may trip over how others mistreated them, what oth-ers have said to and about them, or how they thought things should have been handled. ese things may even cause them to fall away from the church. However, just like the toddler, when we fall we must not stay down. Proverbs 24:16a, says the righteous man falls seven times, but he rises again. If we do not allow our hearts to become hardened, the Lord will pick us up, dust us o, and steady our walk. Paul provides instructions on how to get back up when we stumble or fall. He tells us to remember the sacricial love of Christ. According to Romans 5:8, “while we were still sinning”, out of His great love for us, Christ took on our sin and died in our place. John 3:16 puts it like this, “for God SO loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.” When we stum-ble, we can get up and walk in love because of the power of love that we have received from Our Heav-enly Father, through faith in Christ and His indwell-ing Spirit.We are not only encouraged to walk in love, but we are commanded to do so. Jesus was asked in Mat-thew 22:36-40, which of the commandments was the greatest. His response was, “to love God with all of your heart, soul, and mind.” He adds that the second greatest commandment is similar, “to love others as you love yourself.” e Ephesians church received these instructions, and did well. However, we see in Revelations 2:4 that they le their rst love. Do not forsake your rst love and let your walk be hindered BY SYLVIA WOODS

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19by a thirst for power, wealth, or fame. If you have stumbled or fell away from God or the church, seek the Lord’s hand to get back up. You can depend on God’s Holy Spirit to em-power you to walk in love.PRAYERDear Heav-enly Father, thank you for the sacricial love you demonstrated in sending Jesus to pay the price for our sins. We are grateful that we are now free to approach your throne of grace and ask forgiveness for all the ways we let you down. Help us yield to the Holy Spirit as we learn to walk in love towards others, even those who may have hurt us. We have not suered death on the cross, but Jesus did it willingly, so that we might be reunited to you in loving fellowship. Your Word says in John 13:35 that “by this will men know that you are my disciples, that you have love for one another.” Lord, please pick us up when we have stumbled in our walk, and give us a willing heart to continually practice walking in love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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20ACTS 2:4247 ey devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellow-ship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was lled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. ey sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet to-gether in the temple courts. ey broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.Scene: You. Hungry. No money. No family to call. Alone and cold. A stranger walks by.You: Excuse me. I’m so sorry to bother you, but I am very hungry. Will you please, please help me?Stranger: Bother me? (sighs) It’s my duty to help you. Uh (looks into an empty wallet), I don’t have any money, but check this out (removes gold chain from neck; pauses brief-ly, eyes it longingly) … I received this as a gi, but if I sell it, we should have plenty of money for food. Would you happen to need a place to stay?You stare incredulously at the stranger, unsure of whether to give thanks for their kindness or run away quickly because this just has to be a setup. Good news: it’s not a setup. is unbelievable, genuine act of kindness illustrated here is a reenactment of actual events that took place during the days soon aer Jesus’ death. People from all over the world had gathered in Jerusalem during Pentecost when suddenly, a sound like a rushing wind lled the area, and the Holy Spirit came down in the form of a tongued ame, resting on the disci-ples. e reaction of the spirit-lled disciples was such that some in the crowd thought them to be drunk. However, those that were inhabit-ed by the Spirit now possessed the gi of language, and every nation in attendance understood in their native tongue. Astonished, each individual listened as Peter gave his sermon and preached that Jesus is “both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36)”. He then tells them to “…repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the for-giveness of your sins, and you will receive the gi of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).” e people were so moved by what they had just heard and experienced that “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching (Acts 2:46)”, sold and gave away all of their possessions, broke bread with other believers in their homes, and worshiped together. is was the beginning of the church. It’s hard to imagine giving up every possession to help others, especially when we live in a world in which hustling is applauded and “securing the bag” is as golden as “do unto

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21AUTHENTIC FELLOWSHIPothers”. But even if we don’t do something as bold as severing self from all earthly possessions, we can take the time to get to know our brothers and sisters in Christ; to engage with them beyond the physical walls of church; to make a phone call or shoot a text; to open our homes and congregate with one anoth-er. We pride ourself for being a sending and giving church, but how does that look in your personal life? Are you a sending and giving Christian? Is Christ re-ected in the way you communicate with others? Try this: the next time you’re stopped at a red light and see someone asking for money, don’t just roll up the window or pretend to look for something in the car to avoid eye contact - consider the real needs of that person without judging. ink back to Acts 2:42-47 and reect on what may have been the response of those early Christians. Try loving your neighbor as you would love yourself – an act so important that it’s mentioned multiple times in the scripture: Luke 10:27 says, “He answered, “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” And John 13:34: “A new commandment I give you, that you love one anoth-er: just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another.”Love. e foundation. e common denominator of Christianity. Let us all learn to set self aside and allow Christ in us to shine as brightly as the sun, envel-oping our brothers and sisters in the warmth of our Redeemer.PRAYERFather, our Merciful Creator, thank You for loving me. ank you for loving me so much that you died on the cross to save my soul. I ask You, O Savior, to create in me a clean heart. Renew my spirit, Father. Please heal my broken heart so that I can once again be sensitive to the needs of others. Fill the holes of loneliness so that I can look beyond my own situ-ation and oer comfort to someone in need. Strip envy from me, Father, so that I can push beyond self-pity and know without a shadow of doubt that I have something beautiful to oer to Your Kingdom. Help me to love myself so that I can love others. I desire to be a sending and a giving Christian. Shine brightly within me, so that Your Will is done on earth as it is in heaven. In the name of the Most High, I give thanks and praise. Let it be so.CHRISTLIKE DEVOTION TOWARDS OTHERSBY JESSICA WILLIAMS

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22JESUS CENTERD WORSHIPJESUS WANTS ALL OF YOUROMANS 6:13Do not oer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather oer your-selves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and oer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.Worship doesn’t just consist of singing songs to drums, pianos, organs and musical instruments. Worship is an everyday, every second, and every moment task or lifestyle for believers in Christ Je-sus. In Romans 6:13 , Paul is making the case that our Worship deals with our everyday thoughts, actions and deeds. We are to commit our entire being/body to the joy of being bond servants of Christ. Since Christ died and rose to defeat sin, but also lives in us, we have the call and duty to live righteously versus allowing ourPhysical/spiritual bodies to be subservient to the sin of the world. We are able to live in righteous-ness because Christ who is the ONLY righteous one continues to conform us to His image in a perfect way, that only the Holy Spirit can do since He is all powerful to do so. When we root ourselves (body, mind, soul) and obedience to Christ Jesus, our worship will reect it. Prayer Lord, may we commit our mind, body and soul to righteousness in You so our worship becomes a constant work and example of your glory so others will desire to have a relationship ship with you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen! BY ROBERT WILLIAMS

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24PSALM 69:3031 I will praise the name of God with a song and mag-nify him with thanksgiving. is also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that have horns and hoofs. When we think about living it is to actively function and Magnify is to render honor to our God. As I reect on this topic, for this devotion I ask myself and I ask you to ask of yourself also, do I fully live to give God my all, my best no matter what? Allowing nothing to hinder my praise, nothing to stop my giv-ing of thanks. Let us be mindful that when we make a vow to praise our God it is to actively be seen in each of our lives. Psalm 146:2 says I will (that’s a vow) praise the LORD all my life; I will (that’s a vow) sing praise to my God as long as I live. I will statements are vows that are made and they are more meaningful because of their importance to the one to whom the vow is made, the one making the vow and how this vow reects our commitment to it. Scripture tells us in Eccl 5:5 that it is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulll it. We have heard of promise keepers what about prom-ise breakers. Have you ever had someone not keep a promise or have you yourself broke a promise that you made? Take a moment and reect on that thought. So then I ask the question How oen have you made a vow, not a New Year’s Resolution but a commitment to our God, and then were you commit-ted to keep it no matter what? In spite of the busyness of life, trouble that comes our way, or the distractions of life that happen. David the writer of Psalm 69 which is known as a lament, it’s a cry of distress because of a crisis he is experiencing that is seen in the above passages. is distress causes him to suer at the hands of his ene-mies all because of his devotion to God. However, he makes a vow to praise God with song and magnify with anksgiving even in the midst of trouble. He is so committed that he says his praise will not only please the Lord but that it will be better than the best animal sacrice that can be oered (horns and hoofs). Fullling his vow. Remember David who dance out of his clothes (outer garment) now that’s praise. Notice I said his distress was because of trouble, but he kept his vow. His commitment to praise and thank the Lord. Scripture says tribulation will come but we are to be of good cheer. Good cheer will let us praise, give thanks, magnify. e writer of this Psalm was so committed that even trouble would not keep him LIVING TO MAGNIFYBY DIANA RUCKERfrom extolling praise to God. e question I ask myself and I ask you is When trouble come do you remember your vow to praise in spite of, to give thanks in spite of, do you remember the song you sung which such passion that praise is what I do even when I’m going thru? Or Does your trouble take your focus o God, make you disregard your vow to praise, to magnify with thanksgiving because you are looking out to the trouble instead of looking up to the hill from where your help comes from? When we vow to praise it helps to trust God, not ourselves, not our situations, not others. It helps us to depend on God to see us thru. It helps us to trust Gods word that does not return to him void but does what it was sent to do. It helps us to remember He is able to keep us from falling, that He will keep us in perfect peace as we keep our minds stayed, meditating on Him. It helps us to empty our-selves of worry, stress, and know that we can run and cling to the rock that is higher than us and that we can cast our care because He cares for us. Psalm 22:3 says God inhabits the praise of His people so we can worship him in all our distresses, in all our troubles. In our living to magnify there should be an eager expectation to give God our best no matter what, that our magnifying God be a priority in our life and that there is a resolve to live for Christ. So when in this life, challenges come because of the enemy (you know he’s busy) trying to kill, steal, destroy our witness, our joy, our peace, our testimony remember your vow to praise, to give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the Holy one, give thanks cause He has given Jesus Christ, His son. Give thanks for His goodness, His grace and His mercy and for all that He does in, thru, and for us. Scripture says, “O give thanks unto the Lord for He is good”. O magnify the lord with me and let us exalt his name together”.

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25JESUS CENTERD WORSHIPfrom extolling praise to God. e question I ask myself and I ask you is When trouble come do you remember your vow to praise in spite of, to give thanks in spite of, do you remember the song you sung which such passion that praise is what I do even when I’m going thru? Or Does your trouble take your focus o God, make you disregard your vow to praise, to magnify with thanksgiving because you are looking out to the trouble instead of looking up to the hill from where your help comes from? When we vow to praise it helps to trust God, not ourselves, not our situations, not others. It helps us to depend on God to see us thru. It helps us to trust Gods word that does not return to him void but does what it was sent to do. It helps us to remember He is able to keep us from falling, that He will keep us in perfect peace as we keep our minds stayed, meditating on Him. It helps us to empty our-selves of worry, stress, and know that we can run and cling to the rock that is higher than us and that we can cast our care because He cares for us. Psalm 22:3 says God inhabits the praise of His people so we can worship him in all our distresses, in all our troubles. In our living to magnify there should be an eager expectation to give God our best no matter what, that our magnifying God be a priority in our life and that there is a resolve to live for Christ. So when in this life, challenges come because of the enemy (you know he’s busy) trying to kill, steal, destroy our witness, our joy, our peace, our testimony remember your vow to praise, to give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the Holy one, give thanks cause He has given Jesus Christ, His son. Give thanks for His goodness, His grace and His mercy and for all that He does in, thru, and for us. Scripture says, “O give thanks unto the Lord for He is good”. O magnify the lord with me and let us exalt his name together”. Prayer God, we thank you for your faithfulness. We thank you that in you we live, move and have our being. We thank you grace and mercy always. As we reect on our vow to you Lord our I will statement that no matter what we will trust you, obey you, give thanks and praise your holy and righteous name. We thank you for rst loving us and your promise to never leave us to always be with us, and to keep us and for this we thank you. We pray lord that we always remember to sing praises and give thanks to you our God for all you have, you are, and you will do for each of us. In Jesus name, Amen

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26SPIRITUAL MATURITYIN ALL THINGS, PLEASE GODBY GLORIA MARSHALLCOLOSSIANS 1:9109 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be lled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; How do you make decisions? New research has found that adults make a whop-ping 35,000 decisions each day! In fact, we make so many decisions each day that most of the time we aren’t even consciously aware that we are deciding! e alarm clock sounds…we press snooze and turn over for ten more minutes of sleep.But how do you make those other decisions, those informed decisions, about nances, personal re-lationships, children? Where do you go for coun-sel? Is there someone you’re trying to please? Or impress? What if the choice is not between good and bad, but between good and best? How can you know what is right? What is true? Leader ship coach John Maxwell has said, “Life is a mat-ter of choices…and every choice you make makes you.” In other words, our lives are shaped by the choices and decisions we make. And God wants us to make choices and decisions that please Him. In our focus verse today, Paul prays that we might be lled with the knowledge of God’s will so that we might walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him. e word “walk” here refers to the way we live our daily lives. So, did you get that? Paul is praying that we will know God’s will so that we can do God’s will. But how can we do that? Glad you asked. Just as babies grow physically stronger by eating physical food, we grow spiritually stronger by eating spiri-tual food. And please keep in mind that we all eat more than one meal each day! So, start with read-ing your Bible. Meet God in prayer each day. Seek His counsel and direction. Ignore all the noise and listen intently for His still, small voice. Know that when you draw near to Him, He will draw near to you! en we can be condent that our choices

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281 PETER 1:1416 “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your con-duct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am h o l y.” Being fully transparent, when I read this passage, I felt intimidated, even dejected because I associated holiness with perfection. How could I an imperfect person, living in an im-perfect world produce perfection/Holy living? at math just didn’t add up, but I was missing a very im-portant variable in my equation-JE-SUS and the work he did on the cross, in Him all is possible!!! Sure in my own strength and knowledge, I can not live nor ever be holy, but in Christ I can do all things!! Peter discusses the salv-ic plan in the verses preceding this passage. Peter emphasizes the fullness of our Salvation and what this Salvation should produce. is free gi of salvation should/will produce a Hope e hope of this salvation should/will produce a Joye joy of this salvation should/will produce a WitnessAnd this witness is based on our conduct not just in our words. We were chosen to be Holy, we were chosen to be set apart for the use of our God. To be Holy as our Father is Holy, simply brings us back to God’s original plan for us…image bearer. We

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30PROVERBS 28:13 “He who covers his sins will not prosper,but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have m e r c y.”One of the earliest, most common, and foolish human errors is the attempt to hide our sins from the Father. ere is nothing we can do that the Father does not know (1 John 3:20). Scripture tells us that the Father knows our down sittings and our up risings, and He understands our thoughts afar o (Psalm 139:2). ere is nothing He cannot see (Hebrews 4:13). Every event in our lives is already part of the Father’s perfect understanding (Isaiah 46:9-10).In this great Proverb, Solomon may have reected on the dark episode in his father’s life when David tried to conceal (“cover over”) his sin from the Father. But painfully found out that hiding sin from the Father does not pay. Experience taught him (Psalm 32:3-5) that it is far better to deal with sin by confessing it to the Father and turning away from that sin. Are you hiding any sin from the Father?is Proverb warns believers about the consequences of covering up sin and encourages those who confess and turn away from their sins will receive the Father’s pardoning grace and mercy which results in joy and happiness (Psalm 32:1-2). e apostle John captured the essence of this Old Testament Proverb as it has been fullled under the new covenant:8“If we say, we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9 NKJV).FORGIVENESSA FORGIVING FATHERBY PASTOR JAMES LEWIS

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32COLOSSIANS 3:1313 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.It’s safe to say that at some point we have all felt hurt or wronged by someone’s actions or words. And it is our human nature to experience the emotions that result from those oenses. e question is where do you go from there? Do you allow the oense to fester and become bitter and angry? Do you immediately forgive that person or even yourself? When we’re in pain sometimes it’s hard to see past the oense. e truth is, forgiveness is not easy and can sometimes feel impossible. Ultimately forgiveness is a choice and as Christians it is necessary. To truly forgive someone or even yourself, it cannot be done apart from God. Forgiveness is a process not a one-time event, so give yourself some grace.When you’re put in a position to have to forgive someone or yourself, many times it is a test to see the condition of your heart. It can be used as an opportu-nity to stretch your faith, allow you to grow closer to God, or even expose some things that are deep within that God wants to rene. You could even be experi-encing this moment to be a blessing to someone else and its not even about you.If we are intentional to keep our hearts and minds in a posture of forgiveness it wont feel as overwhelming when a situation arises. Col. 3:12-13 says “Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kind-ness, gentleness, and patience. Make allowances for each other’s faults and forgive anyone who oends you. Remember the Lord forgave you so you must forgive others.” What I get from this is, above all else we should forgive because God forgave us. Not only did he forgive us, he sacriced his only son to save us. Because of his sacrice and our acceptance of Jesus Christ, we are born again and have the strength, courage, and power by way of the Holy Spirt to for-give others and ourselves.

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34PSALMS 107:12Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,“God is good, all the time! And all the time, God is good!” I’m sure we’ve all either heard or stated this phrase a time or two, but how oen do we truly stop to think about the goodness of God and what that should mean for us? Psalms 107:1-2 (ESV) states “Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble...” is scrip-ture reminds us that because of how good God is, we should respond in two ways - by thanksgiving and testimony.Has God brought you out of something? Has he been there for you when no one else has? Have you experienced loss and grief? Remembering God’s eternal love for us and that he is good ALL the time, even in the mist of our troubles, helps us to maintain a lifestyle of not only faith, but love. at is a lot to be thankful for. And that’s a type of love you don’t keep to yourself. So, be encouraged each day to share the love of God and all that he’s delivered you from. It will bless someone else, and it will bless you too!PRAYER Heavenly Father, we come to you today with a heart of thanksgiving and praise. You’re so good, and we can’t say thank you enough for all that SHARING OUR FAITHA LIFESTYLE OF SHARING GOD’S LOVEBY JAMIE DAVIS

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362 COR. 5:2020 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.What an honor to be called ambassadors for Christ. ink about an ambassador. An ambassador listens, an ambassador uses knowledge, and an ambassador recognizes he has no personal authority apart from the Christ. We are representatives of Jesus Himself. Jesus, who is at the right hand of God in heaven, has sent you and me to represent Him wherever we are in this world. You’re an ambassador for Christ, that God might make His appeal through you. An ambassador does not represent his own inter-ests, but the interests of the ruler he represents. e big question, then, is what are the primary interests of our King? What are His desires, values, and pri-orities? As you reect on these words, ask yourself, how can I honor his desires, values, and priorities as I approach today?PRAYERank You, Father, for Your gracious-kindness, loving-mercy, and long-suering toward me and all humanity. ank You for reconciling the world back to Yourself, through Your only begotten Son. Help me to be a worthy witness of the truth of Your

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38A PRAYER-POWERED CHURCHGOD HAS BIG PLANS FOR YOUBY DR. LLOYD KIRK SR.PSALMS 143:10 Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God;Let Your good Spirit lead me on level [f]ground.God has a plan for this world and a plan for your world. It is a plan that He understands perfectly , a plan that can bring you untold joy now and throughout eternity. But the Lord won’t force His plan on you. He’s given you freewill, the ability to make choices on your own. e totality of those choices will determine how well you fulll God’s calling. Sometimes God makes Himself known in obvious ways , but more oen His guidance is subtle. So, we must be quiet to His voice. If you are serious about discovering God’s plan for your life, or rediscovering it start spending quite time with Him every day. Ask Him for directions and watch for His signs. e more you spend time with Him the sooner the answer will come.

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40I TIMOTHY 2:1 “erefore I exhort rst of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men…”When the church prays, yokes are destroyed, and burdens are removed. When the church prays, souls are saved, bodies are healed, and relation-ships are restored. A prayer-powered church is who we must become in order to see God’s kingdom manifested and His Will be done here on earth.In I Timothy 2:1, e Apostle Paul is encourag-ing believers to always pray in every situation and at all times. He makes it clear that prayer is vitally important to the church. e Apostle mentions four types of prayer.e rst type of prayer Paul lists is supplica-tions or entreaties. When we pray these types of prayers we are earnestly pleading with God for a specic purpose. Philippians 4:6 says, “Be anx-ious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be make known to God…”. A prayer-powered church will prayer on every occasion. It is our privilege as born-again believers to “let our re-quests be make known”.e second type of prayer mentioned is “prayers”. It is believed to refer to all communication with the Lord. I believe it means to be intention-al about meeting God at a specied time and place daily. In a time when the world oers so many dis-tractions, the prayer-pow-ered church must always remember the discipline of prayer. Mat-thew 26:36-46 is an excellent reminder of why we must have a prayer discipline.Next, is the prayer of intercessions or petitions. e prayer-powered church remembers to make request on behalf of others. As we pray, there should be times when the needs of others nd a place in our payers before God’s throne. ere are many examples of intercessors in the bible. Moses, Daniel, Hezekiah, and Nehemiah all interceded on behalf of God’s people. When we read the New Testament, we are encouraged by Jesus to pray as part of loving one another. We carry one another’s burdens, and we can do that in prayer. I Peter 4:7b-8 says, “Be alert and of sober mind so that you may p r a y…”.e last type of prayer mentioned by the Apostle Paul is thanksgiving or giving of thanks. When we oer prayers of thanksgiving, we are acknowledg-ing the blessings we have received. We are also giv-ing thanks for answered prayers on behalf of oth-ers. In expressing gratitude for what God has done, we also express our faith in what He is about to do in our midst. We ae giving Him glory for what He

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41A PRAYER-POWERED CHURCHURGENT: PRAYER NEEDEDBY MADELENE BOYDhas done in us and through us. Again, Philippians 4:6 reminds us to be anxious for nothing as we bring our requests to God with thanksgiving.In conclusion, the prayer-powered church prays for all men with all types of prayers (supplica-tions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving) on every occasion. We are to pray for the rich and the poor, the saved and the lost, the hurting and those who are satised, and we are even called to pray for our enemies and those who despitefully use us. (Matthew 5:43-45). When the prayer-powered church emerges, there will be demonstrations of God’s Power (the anointing) in the lives of all people in the earth.PrayerFather, thank you for reminding us that it is our privilege and responsibility to always pray for all men. We come to you now praying your kingdom come, your will be done here in earth, as it is already in heaven. We pray for those in authority over us. We pray they make godly decisions that will allow us to live peaceably in the earth. We pray for those who do not know you. We pray that the minds of those who are lost be enlightened to the receive the truth of this glorious gospel of Je-sus Christ. We pray that believers be strengthened mightily on the inner man by the Holy Spirit. ank You for allowing us to come boldly to the throne of grace, where we receive appropriate, well-timed help.In Jesus’ Name, Amen

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42PASTORS & SPIRITUAL LEADERS TRUMPHANT OVER EVILBY HATTIE YORKEPHESIANS 6:12 For we do not wrestle against esh and blood, but against the rulers, against the author-ities, against the cosmic pow-ers over the present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. We oen hear of pastors and other spiritual leaders falling into divers’ temptations and we are surprised, or we start to judge and put them down. ere is an old saying, “ere is nothing new under the sun.” is is true when it comes to how our spiritual leaders can stray away from God. Take King David for instance, a man the bible states was aer God’s own heart. He was faithful to the Lord; he was repentant when he did wrong, and he loved the Lord with all his heart. He was God’s chosen king who our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ would come through his lineage. David loved God and followed God’s way, but he gave into his eshly desire and fell from grace. Like King David, our present spiritual leaders love the Lord and want to do what is right in God’s sight, but the desires of this world overtake them, and they fall. We must remember that because we are born from sin, a sinful nature lives in us. e ruler of this world has access to our inner desires and uses our weakness to tempt us. Ephesians 6:12 says, “For we do not wres-tle against esh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over the present dark-ness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Paul talks about this in Romans 7: 21-23, “So I nd it to be a law when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Jesus saved us from sin, but we must practice walk-ing in God’s word daily. How do we ght this? We ght this through prayer.I am reminded of a former prayer leader from my previous church who prayed to God and asked Him to provide her some-one to pray for. God’s response to her was for her to pray for the current president, whom at that time was President Obama. She

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43prayed for President Obama daily for the eight years he was the President. What would it look like if each of us, did the same thing and asked God to give us a spiritual leader to pray for and we prayed for that person daily. He/she would be covered in prayer which will help the ght against the rulers of this world. PRAYER Father God, we come to you today liing up pastors and other spiritual leaders . Heavenly father, we ask that you cover them with the blood of Jesus, keep them and their families safe from all hurt, harm and dangers, seen and unseen. Lord, as we continue to share your love and word with other believers and non-believers, we ask that you provide us with a spiritual leader to pray for. We know that the devil is walking about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour but your word is more powerful than anything the powers of this world can throw at us. Equip us today, oh Lord to continue to walk in your word and be a living exam-ple to others as our savior, Jesus Christ was when he walked this earth. We love you, Lord. It is in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

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44bJOSHUA 1:696 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. “Be strong and very cou-rageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the le, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. en you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not com-manded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”Fear and inadequacy are indeed common human emotions, and spiritual leaders and pastors are not exempt from experiencing them. In fact, we oen face unique challenges and pressures in our roles, which can intensify these emotions. e recognition of one’s own mortality is a powerful and humbling experience, and it can serve as a catalyst for personal growth and increased eectiveness in ministry.e encouragement to “be strong and courageous” that was given to Joshua just before crossing into the promised land holds profound signicance for all those called by God to lead. It is an enduring message that leaders will inevitably need to heed at various junctures throughout their journey in minis-try. ere is not a single leader who has not, at some point, grappled with fear, feelings of inadequacy, weakness, and uncertainty. If you have not encoun-tered these challenges, you most certainly will face them in the future. e words spoken in the book of Joshua, specically in Joshua 1:5-9, provide valuable insights and guid-ance for both spiritual leaders and pastors. In them is also the very source of courage and strength, espe-cially when navigating challenging and trying times. is passage contains three important elements of nding courage and strength that should always be applied to leadership roles. Rest in the assurances of God’s promises: e prom-ises made by God to Moses and Joshua serve as powerful reminders for those who lead. ese divine assurances underscore the signicance of trust and faith in leadership roles. Just as God promised never

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45PASTORS & SPIRITUAL LEADERSCOURAGE & STRENGTH TO LEADBY PASTOR JAMES LEEto leave or forsake Moses and assured Joshua of the land for the people of Israel, leaders can nd solace in the knowledge that God will faithfully fulll His promises. is steadfast commitment from God provides them with the condence and inner strength necessary to fulll their calling.Rely on God’s word to guide you: Staying closely tethered to God’s Word is fundamental for all leaders. e bible serves as a guide and a source of wisdom. Following the teachings and com-mandments written in the biblical texts helps the leaders make decisions and lead with authority, condence, and compassion. Remember the source: Ministry will present challenges and uncertainties, and leaders are encouraged to turn to God for guidance during such times. e assurance that “the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” reinforces the idea that God is a constant presence, providing a constant and ever-present source of strength and direction even in the face of uncertainty.Leaders and pastors can draw from these princi-ples to eectively navigate the inevitable periods of fear, inadequacy, and weakness that we all en-counter. Acknowl-edging and accept-ing these emotionally charged moments as part of the human experience is crucial in leadership and vital to spiritual growth. It can empower leaders to be more eective in their roles and provide them with the condence, courage, and strength needed to persevere, even when faced with the most challenging aspects of ministry.

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46PSALM 8:35 When I look at your heavens, the work of your ngers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings[a]and crowned him with glory and honor. How do you see yourself? What do you see when you look in the mirror? What do you discover when you make time for authentic introspection? Whether it’s momentary and occasional, or a view that has been consistent over time, would you describe yourself as having low self-esteem or a poor self-image? If so, what do you believe is a/the cause? If this is an area of struggle for you, I’m certain that you could write a laundry list of reasons. Accord-ing to research done by the National Association on Mental Illness (NAOMI), a poor self view, or low self-esteem, can have a negative eect on one’s mental health. According to NAOMI, a poor view of self can lead to anxiety and depression. Yet this does not have to be the believers plight.Israel’s beloved King David opened this Psalm by expressing the majesty and glory of the Lords name, and the testimony of the young concern-ing His strength. Who is the Lord in this Psalm? Majestic, glorious, and full of strength. en, David transitioned to what the Lord has done, and this is where you and I come in. I can imagine David gazing into the heavens, on a clear night, in awe of the Lord’s celestial handiwork, causing him to consider the beauty and mystery of the work that is the Lord’s creation. is drove him MENTAL HEALTHGOD PLACES GREAT VALUE IN HIS CHILDRENBY PASTOR JASON BROWN

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47to ask the question “What is man (in comparison to this amazing landscape) that YOU are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”His answer was lled with truth that, if accept-ed, can counteract our negative self-view, and in turn, loosen the grip of anxiety and depression. Truth 1: He made us a little lower than heavenly being (angels). Truth 2: We are crowned with glory and honor. Truth 3: We have been given dominion over the works of His hands. Accepting these truths will lead us into a more positive self-view, higher self-esteem. I encour-age you and I to do what John Gordon said in his book “e Carpenter” to talk to yourself instead of listening to yourself and the negative rhetoric that comes from inside and others. What should we say about ourselves? -We are made a little lower than angels, fearfully and wonderfully made, made in His image. -We have been crowned with glory and honor that is from HIM, we are royalty. -As royalty, co-heirs with King Jesus, we have been given dominion over HIS handiwork.is is who we are in the eyes of the Lord no matter what we think of ourselves. So, when you look in the mirror every morning, and before you lay down at night, remind yourself that this is the truth of who we really are. Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

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48JOHN 14:27 “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful. JESUS CHRIST loves us so dearly that not only did HE die on that rugged cross for our sins, but HE also le us instructions and resources to accomplish HIS divine will for our lives. One of these resources is Peace and it is one of a kind. How so? ere are 3 things that the Holy Spirit is revealing here in the text….. 1.) JESUS CHRIST is the ONLY peace that we need, hence one of the reasons HE is also known as the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). is Peace that JESUS CHRIST gives cost nothing but yet is priceless!!! Like Salvation, this peace is free to all that are willing to accept it. 2.) JESUS grants us peace that the world can’t give. e world can’t grant us peace. e world can only give us temporary satisfaction through things, people, accolades, accom-plishments, etc.; but those things can’t provide peace. Your spouse can’t provide peace; your money can’t provide peace but only JESUS CHRIST can. is is proven when you hear about Millionaires & Billionaires who have more money than one can dream of but is so stressed and unhappy that they can’t even enjoy it. To back up this fact even further, the Bible has produced many receipts to prove it, but let’s just look at one. Look at the Woman who had the issue of blood. e Bible says that she spent all she had with Doctors & Physicians to heal her but it didn’t work. Because of her condition, she couldn’t be around friends, family, anybody for that matter…she couldn’t even go to the temple to worship all because she was considered “Un-clean”. One can even conclude that this woman was suering not only physically but also men-tally & spiritually because she was going through this storm in isolation, without any support or fellowship. is is what is known in today’s soci-ety as “suering in silence”. JESUS came to town and in an act of faith & sheer desperation the Woman touched the hem of HIS garment and was immediately healed; but not just physically but also mentally & spiritually. She was relieved of her ailments...she was restored, which translat-ed into her receiving that peace that only JESUS

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49MENTAL HEALTHPEACE FOR THE TROUBLED HEARTBY BRANDON BOLDENCHRIST could give. None of her money could do it, but JESUS CHRIST could and did. 3.) JESUS has promised to give us the peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7). at peace is what keeps us sane, steadfast and immov-able when we are treading through the storms of life. In this text, JESUS knew what road lied ahead for his disciples and HE wanted to make sure during this conversation with them that they knew of the peace in HIM which was always accessible to comfort and assist through their own unique Journey’s.In closing, please remember family, that this peace JESUS is speaking of in this text is so great that no matter the trials and tribulations that we may go through, it’s HIS peace that will have us smiling and thriving to a point that no one would be even able to tell that we’re in the midst of a storm.Be Blessed Family.PRAYER Dear Most Wise & Merciful Father, the one true Living GOD, we come to you in the humblest manner we know how asking that even when we’re going through the raging storms of life, that we stay cognizant of what this scripture, John 14:27, that owed right out of the mouth of JESUS is saying. Please give us the clarity to not only be mindful of what it says but also the discipline to be able to apply it during those times, for we know that knowing is half the battle. We also know that your Word is true and can’t come back void. Dear heav-enly Father, we love you and thank you for loving us. For Your Kingdom, for Your Glory, it’s in the incomparable name of JESUS CHRIST we do pray, Amen!!!

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50EPHESIANS 5:3233 “is mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”e Bible is comparing the love between a husband and wife to the love between Christ and the church. What did Christ do for the church? He gave his life for her. He took her sin in his own body and was the bridge to giving her new life. He does not hold her shortcomings against her, but His uncondition-al love empowers her to growth. e Bible says that husbands should love their wives as they love themselves. How do you treat yourself? You feed yourself, you clothe yourself, you encourage yourself. Love is an action. It is patient and kind. It does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way, it is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but it rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. is scripture goes on to say that the wife should respect her husband. Respect is to show esteem or honor. To show regard or consideration for. Are you regarding your husband’s heart, emotions, expe-riences? Are you showing him esteem and honor even when he is imperfect or makes a decision that may have negative consequences? In a strong mar-riage we choose to see the best in our spouse and we are their safe place. We are the person for whom they can be completely themselves, show their deepest fears and vulnerabilities and we reect back to them love, hope, and their greatest strengths.Marriage is a covenant relationship that must be nurtured with intention. Feelings change all the time, but love and respect are a daily choice. We all need our spouse to see us, value us, empower us when we are insecure, help heal our wounds, and reassure us when our faith is weak. Let’s aim to show our spouses the love and respect that they are due with the relation-ship between Christ and the church as our example. MARRIAGELOVE & RESPECTBY DR. TEANDRA GORDON

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51PRAYERGod, we thank you for our spous-es today. We ask you to help us to view them through your eyes and love them with your love. We pray that you would be the central chord in our relationship and that our love for our spouse would be infused and empowered by the unconditional love that you have shown us. We pray that you would strengthen our mar-riage today. Strengthen our com-mitment. Deepen our love. Help us to be patient and kind. Help us to show each other honor and esteem. We thank you that you have blessed us with this imper-fect man or woman to share our lives with. Help us to embrace the ways that they are dierent from us and celebrate their strength and their beauty. Deepen our respect for the gi that you have given us and help us to love our spouses better. We love you and we thank you for the blessing of marriage, unconditional love, and commitment.

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52EPHESIANS 4:23…with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”ere are many instances in the Bible where God describes the covenant or promises that He made with the nation of Israel as a whole as well as with individuals. God is literally the author of covenant relationships. He makes a promise and keeps that promise to us de-spite our behaviors and decisions. God’s love for us continues even when we don’t deserve it (Romans 5:8).Marriage involves a covenant promise to act in love even when frustrations and circumstances cloud the feelings of love.Of course, this seems easy for God to do. He is a perfect God who cannot lie. So, what about us? We are obviously imperfect beings who enter imperfect marriages with occasional conicts and frustra-tions. So, if we are God’s chosen people, how does He expect us to succeed in the covenant of mar-riage?A relationship with Jesus is the answer. He is the ultimate example of “relationship goals.” rough His example and sacrice, Jesus has given us an inheritance of love, grace, peace and joy. When we pur-sue Jesus, we receive these fruits of the spirit for ourselves and plenty extra to extend to those around us. at is why we need to constantly seek aer the Lord and delight in Him (Psalm 37:4). Every day, we need to not just seek Him, but seek to be like Him (1 John 2:6). Our relationship with Jesus allows for us to more easily love despite our spouse’s imperfections and the inevitable conicts.ose who are single, desiring marriage as well as those who are married need to have an individ-ual relationship with Jesus. But, marriage is also an opportunity for a man and woman to be unied in their pursuit of Jesus Christ. In doing so, you can also pursue one another with love, grace, passion and condence in Christ’s design for your marriage.PRAYERLord God, we thank you so much for sending your son Jesus as an example of love and ultimate sac-rice. Today, we pray for married couples in their pursuit of a fruitful and harmonious marriage. Please help those who are married and those who seek to be married to know that a relationship with you is the foundation of a healthy mar-riage. Please allow couples to hear your call and follow your example of love, humility, and patience with each other. Please allow the pursuit of You to help strengthen marriag-es. Lord, also please help any strug-gling married couples in our body LIVING A JESUS CENTERED MARRIAGEBY COMFORT UGHANZE

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54YOUNG ADULTSEEK GOD IN ALL YOU DOBY JUSTIN MCLEAN 1 CORINTHIANS 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. In our lives today we have a tendency to com-partmentalize our words and actions every day. We all tend to divide our what and how we do things into dierent categories. We do it in many dierent ways whether it’s I talk like this in this place or I only do this in this environment. It’s our human process of creating a checklist for living and unfortunately this way of thinking and living has crept into our relation-ship with Christ. e checklist of what is for God and what isnot can become a very heavy weight. A weight that will cause our liberties to become stumbling blocks. Paul writes this verse in a letter to the church of Corinth. Here in the 10th chapter, Paul discusses the mistakes of Israel and their taking for granted what God commanded them to do. ough they were being led by God, they still fell into idolatry and wasteful living. In our lives today we are walking with liberty in Christ so we shouldn’t let idolatry rule us but allow Christ to aid us in how to operate in our freedoms found in him. We shouldn’t divide our liberties into categories of what is for him and what is not, because if we are not careful we will fall into the temptation of idolatry and selsh living. Paul tells us that all things that may be permitted but not all of those things are benecial. is concept of things being benecial is not just for our development in Christ but is a sign to others in unbelief. Paul doesn’t want the believers to get caught in legalistic system of what to eat or drink from the covenant of the Law but now that the covenant of grace in Christ has given these free-doms don’t let them rule you but allow Christ to lead you in bringing glory and honor to him in all things. Our lives are not divided into what’s holy or what’s for God but being that we are in Christ, all that we do should bring him glory because of what Christ has done for us. He has restored and rec-onciled us back to God so that we would oer our freedoms to him for direction in how we navigate

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55and engage with those freedoms. Paul tells them that whether it’s the dierent things of food and drink but brings it full circle by saying in all things that you do it is unto the glory of God.Christ came for all of who we are, what we do, what we nd interest in and what things make up our human experience. Our citizenship in Christ makes us free from the law and being bound to living a life built around our works and freedom from the system that denies liberty in Christ. So now that we nd liberty in the freedom of salvation in Christ, we must allow Christ to lead us in our freedoms so that they are works of righteousness and not works of esh in idolatry and seeking our own good. PRAYERLord, ank you for freeing me from sin and saving me through the blood of Jesus. Lord, please forgive me for the idols that I have built because of an improper view of my freedom found in you. Lord, redirect my mind and my walk with the power of the Holy Spirit to understand that everything that I do should point to the salvation found in Christ. Lord allow me to live and move in this culture that as I partake of life in all of its oerings, I allow direction for what may be protable for my growth and for those that are far o from the gospel. Amen

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56TIMOTHY 4:1212 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.Everyday I open up social media applications to see what’s happening in this world and I witness the supposed deterioration of society. It can seem like every generation is getting worse than the last, but it’s actually the same decline that those in the Bible dealt with in their times. When writing to his disciple, Paul discussed how Timothy’s relatively comparative youth, in both age and in Christ, could pose a challenge in dealing with the false teachings in Ephesus. Paul did not focus on the negative, but instead decided to encourage Tim-othy to be an example for believers and non-believers alike.Today is no dierent, in that we need to upli our youth through the love of Jesus Christ. To the next generation of God’s children: let no one look down on you because of your physical age or your years with Christ as your savior. As children of God, you too are created in the image of the Lord and the Holy Spirit resides in you. Challenge yourselves, as Paul challenged Tim-othy, to be the example for your generation in your speech, in your conduct, in your love, in your faith, and in your purity. I guarantee if you do that, others will follow and we will truly see the revival of a generation.

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58TEENS & CHILDRENTRUST IN CHRISTBY SOPHIA HOFFLERROMANS 8:1819 For I consider [from the standpoint of faith] that the suerings of the present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us! For [even the whole] creation [all nature] waits eagerly for the children of God to be revealed.We are all aware that this life is full of trials and dicult seasons. Both believers and nonbelievers experience pain and suering to some degree. Many times as believers, we tend to question God’s faithfulness when we experience dicult seasons. We oen think if God loves me so much, why would he put me through this pain-ful situation? In this passage, Paul uses the Lord’s inspiration to remind the Roman church that this life is not their nal destination, which can still be applied to believers today! In these verses, God lovingly re-minds us that any suering we face on earth will not even come close to the glory that will shine around us and through us. As we walk through hard times, we must remember that the Lord is always beside us. We must keep in mind that we are awaiting the home God has prepared for us for in Heaven. When dicult times arise, it is important to remember the joy that is promised to us.

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60Leah, my younger sister of 18 months is in the 9th grade and is cherished by her group of friends. One day while at her favorite aer school hangout, Leah initiated a conversation with a fellow student who was sitting near her. During the conversation, the young girl revealed that she was not a believer and she felt like God didn’t like her. Heartbreaking, right?Sympathizing with the young girl’s plight, Leah reassured her that not only did God like her, he loved her, and there was nothing she could do to undo the love He had for her. You could see the small glimmer of reassurance and hope appear on her face. ey hung out some more and then parted ways.In that moment, I gained a new perspective and even greater re-spect for Leah. Leah is bold for Jesus. It’s a boldness we as children of God should as-pire to be. Whether it is being the one in your peer group who initiates and leads devotionals, or being the only one who didn’t engage in inappropriate conversation. Her boldness in proclamation reminds me of MATTHEW 5:1416. It reads, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that[a] they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”As believers, we should shine the light of e Gospel to our peer group, friend group, and intimate circles. Like light, we are to illuminate our surroundings with God’s love. Our faith in God and how we walk and live out our faith should show our allegiance to Him. Just as a city set on a hill cannot be hidden; our devo-tion to Christ cannot be hidden, even when it feels uncomfortable or even unnecessary.But how can we live this out in real time? We can pray for our friends or be present and engaging in our friendships. ese are a few

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62FAMILYA FAMILY THAT SERVES THE LORDBY COMFORT UGHANZE JOSHUA 24:15“And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Culture is dened as the customs, arts, social insti-tutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group. We typically think of culture when we see others from countries or religions dierent from our own. Although those major dierences are an example of dierent cultures, we can also see cultural dierences on a smaller scale. Families and households can each have their own cultural traditions and practices. Some examples of this are dierences in how people celebrate Christmas Day. Some open presents on Christmas Eve, while some open them on Christmas Day, and others don’t give gis. Some families go scouting for the perfect live Christmas tree, while others dig their articial trees out of the attic. Each family creates and shapes their own culture which usually passes down to the children and other family members.Families can also have traditions and practices of honoring God. Are you a family who says grace before meals? Do you have a family devotion time? Do you attend church together? Do you memorize Bible verses? What songs are you singing in your house and car? Both children and adults can develop habits and traditions of honoring God. ese prac-tices can create or shape a family’s culture which has implications for future generations.In the above passage, Joshua made it very clear what his household would look like. ere was no ambiguity. His family culture would be dened

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64COLOSIANS 3:121512 erefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compas-sion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and pa-tience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.In families we can experience the most joy and the most pain. e bible is full of dierent family dynamics that have been detrimental to the health and well-being of families. Varying family issues are mentioned throughout the bible such as communication, disobedience, murder, in-delity, lying, incest, rape, and many more. If you name it, the word of God exposes it. We understand that the family unit is vitally important to society. We currently live in a time where it is better to retaliate than to resolve, to harm rather than heal. God instituted family and what God made is good. Unforgiveness and lack of love can bring consequences to a family. It can hinder the restoration process. e word of God gives us countless scriptures on forgiveness. Forgiveness is to stop feeling angry and resentful towards someone for an oense, aw, or mistake. Let’s be clear that while we may not forget the act, we can cease feeling resentment against the of-fender. When we do not forgive, we hold ourselves back from walking in the freedom that God provides. When we operate in love and forgiveness, we ac-knowledge what God has said, “love the Lord God with all you heart, mind, and strength and the second is like this love your neighbor as you love yourself.” (Mark 12:30-31)If you love God keep His word. When we operate in love and forgiveness it opens us up to healing, restoration, and deliverance. e best teacher of this practice was Jesus Him-self when he said, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:24) We under-stand that love covers a multitude of sins and that we have been forgiven of the many sins we have

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65FAMILYLET LOVE AND FORGIVENESS REIGNBY JAIME HOLMANcommitted past, present, and future. If we want to experience God’s unquestionable free-dom through Jesus Christ then families must put on or clothe themselves in tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, forgiving one another. e bible says, “but above all put love which is the bond of perfection and let peace rule. (Colossians 3: 12-15) If we have a complaint against each other let’s reason together, let’s have eective communi-cation for a positive outcome, because Christ forgave us. Love will cause you to pray for one another and have compassion for one another. Let us have the faith to overwhelm each other with love and forgiveness. We can conquer the world through our faith and love. Prayer: Lord, I pray for the power and courage that You provide to help me forgive people in my family that have wronged me or oended me. I under-stand that I can’t pick and choose what I forgive and who I forgive. Please help me to stop feeling angry or resentful towards those in my fami-ly and allow me to release them from oense, aw, or mistake. Forgive me when I have kept records of wrong, or I have not been patient or kind. I must realize for me to be forgiven I must forgive. My decision is intentional for me to show mercy and love so that I can be healed and experience the joy you give in Jesus’ name. Allow me to put my faith into action by loving people beyond their faults. My desire is to obey your word and what You require of me. I will not keep holding myself back on past pains and experiences. Your word is true, whom the Son sets free is free indeed and you came to give me life more abundantly. I speak life so my family can reect grace in Jesus’ name. Amen

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66MENCOMITTED TO GOD’S PRIORITIESBY PASTOR TYRONE DAVISMATTHEW 6:33But seek rst the kingdom of God and his righ-teousness, and all these things will be added to you.BUSYNESS… What comes to mind when you hear this word? Do you think about the amount of time you have and all the areas that are desiring your attention? Do you think about all the things that you have done and accomplished over a certain timeframe, or maybe all of the items that have yet to be done. Time has always been one of our most valuable commodities, and with time we have been graced with, we have been given life more abun-dantly with a PURPOSE. In today’s devotion, we will focus on MEN! But not just any men, Men of God who are called with a purpose of Prioritizing God during the time that that has been granted. Matthew 6:33 states, “But seek rst the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” ese words, spoken by Jesus, gives value to both Priority and Purpose for all who believe! e directive of seeking God’s King-dom FIRST gives priority to a God-Centered focus during our day. is directive also gives PURPOSE in what the men of God are putting rst… e Kingdom of God! e Kingdom of God is more dened by the King that represents the Kingdom. is King is Jesus, Who provides instruction and insight on how to operate within the Kingdom. Jesus is our model of a Man who has prioritized God’s Purpose, and Who was called and appoint-ed by God. With all the issues asking for Jesus’ attention on any given day, He set the standard of what should be the #1 focus for our days, “seeking rst the Kingdom of God…” He started each day with Prayer, carried out God’s Will for His life, and focused on the people around Him. So as we con-

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67tinue living out our days and as we try to juggle and balance all of the to-do’s, requests, and ap-pointments of our days, we can be encouraged to utilize this scripture as a reminder that, when we prioritize God’s Cause or Purpose FIRST, “…all other things will be added...”PRAYERFather God, In the Name of Jesus, thank you for allowing us this time to come to You. ank you for bringing us to this moment of recog-nition to know that all things start with You. Father, we thank You for the men of God that you have called to prioritize Your Work in and through their lives. We ask that You allow these called men to be examples for all others around so that Your Will is prioritized and accom-plished through their lives. We pray these men be Spirit-Led and are intentional in seeking You rst. We ask that You empower these men with the condence and courage to lead their families in prioritizing You as well. We pray that any worry, concern, or anxiety is removed from their minds and hearts, and that Your Promise of “all these things will be added to you,” ll and cover any areas of worry and concern. Lord, we love You, honor You, and Praise You. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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68e Assignment: Be Holy “ey understood the assignment”. A phrase used the past few years by peo-ple from dierent walks of life. is phrase usually communicates that someone had full comprehension and took action to resolve a need, issue or challenge. For the Christian, it is not enough to merely say we understood the assignment. It is only protable for the Kingdom of God for us to work on the execu-tion of the assignment with all diligence. In the war of esh versus spirit, understanding is only half the battle. e application of Godly wisdom is key for a next level, spirit-led life. e rst letter of Peter was addressed to Jewish believers scat-tered throughout 5 dierent Greek provinces of Asia Minor. ese believers were away from the familiar comforts of home and with-out a doubt faced many dierent challenges. One such challenge was the continual temp-tation of sexual immorality in the areas they lived. For those who struggled, Peter’s letter was a much needed reminder and challenge for them to stay focused on the overall assign-ment: to be holy (I Pet.1:15-16). In I PETER 2:11, Peter wrote: “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from eshly lusts, which war against the s o u l .” Peter referred to the audience of his letter as aliens and strangers to highlight the fact they were residing in lands that were not their home. We, followers of Christ, nd ourselves in a very similar predicament. As a songwriter once wrote, we are merely pilgrims traveling through this land. Although our passports for this world are temporary, we still have an as-signment to live holy. It is an awesome thing to understand this assignment. But its daily com-pletion with excellence is what we should strive to achieve. A key component of living holy is self control. Peter highlights this fact with his urging believers to abstain (leave or ee) from

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69MENA STATE OF URGENCYBY PASTOR TERRY STROUDeshly lusts which war against the soul. We must be willing to ght to get away from the presence of those things or people that are in place to wage war against our souls. If necessary, abstaining should be executed with the same zeal displayed by Joseph as he held fast to his integrity and ran away from Potiphar’s wife (Gen. 39:12). Stay vigilant in your spiritual walk as the eects of yielding to the esh are as impactful as a weapon of mass destruction. e collateral damage can include loved ones, friends and the eectiveness of your witness. To summarize the Apostle Paul from Rom.7:14-25 and Gal 5:16-17, there is a constant battle between the spirit and the esh. e enemy takes every opportunity to inter-ject a spirit of defeat into the heart of God’s children through disobedience and sin. Take heart in know-ing that we have the ultimate weapon -the Holy Spirit! He shall remind us that we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus and will provide the power needed for us to stay on the front lines and be bold for the faith. PRAYER Father God. I know there are many aspects to living a holy life. I am sorry for some of the areas where I have missed the assignment you gave me. I pray for the Holy Spirit to give me the power I need to resist all temptation so I can be an example for others. I pray for an eective witness. ank you for the sacrice of your son Jesus and for loving me uncon-ditionally.

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70WOMENTHE POTTER’S WORKBY SHANNON SCOTT II CORINTHIANS 4:710But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are aicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.ough the Apostle Paul pens the young Church of Corinth a letter of correction and strong redirection, he includes an undeniable truth that has the power to soothe the heart and calm all fears. In verse 7 Paul likens believ-ers to “jars of clay.” While we know that jars of clay are malleable and easily broken, they are also beautiful. ey are made with purpose; the potter knows the specic reason he will use each jar. Paul then says that these jars of clay possess treasure. Sounds cool, right? But what’s the treasure? Well, the treasure isn’t a what, but rather a who. Moreover, the treasure is there to reveal “that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” at is good news, because here’s the ugly truth; a truth we are all intimate-ly acquainted with: Life is hard. And for some, life has been really hard. Just the thought of our hardest seasons still knocks the wind out of some of us. A failed marriage. An irrepa-rable friendship. A misstep in parenting. An irreplaceable loss. Have you been here? ese are just a few examples of life circumstances that can leave us reeling in pain with grief that seems inconsolable.But just as Paul oered this hope and reassur-ance to the Church of Corinth, this hope and reassurance is available to us today. e truth is that while life is hard, we have “this treasure,” too! is treasure is the Holy Spirit! And every blood washed believer has Him. at includes you, Sis!

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71Be-cause of this incontestable truth we are NOT crushed, driven to despair, abandoned, nor de-stroyed! Life may knock us down, but it does not have to knock us out! Yeilding to the Holy Spirit produces the power we need to live a victorious life.Sister, just as the potter makes every jar of clay for a specic purpose, so has our God made you. You are beautiful and lled with divine purpose.We may be fragile, but we carry a power that the world can’t contain. e power of the Holy Spirit will encourage you and guide you to all truth. (John 16:13) Know this, accept it as truth, and move accordingly.PRAYERFather, thank you for the treasure of the Holy Spirit that you’ve placed in each of your children. ank you that while life may have dicult mo-ments; the Holy Spirit allows us to live victorious-ly despite life’s challenges and circumstance. Help us to remember to yield to this treasure when life seems unbearable. ank you for this treasure that soothes, protects, heals, and delivers. We love and thank you. In your name, Amen.

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72I PETER 3:34Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty or fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.Beauty is Within, not in the eyes of the BeholderGetting dressed in the morning for work, church, or even a date can be a stressful time for most women. We worry about what we are going to wear. We’re more concerned about our hair, will the jewelry match and so much more when it comes to our external appearance. e Bible clearly tells us not to worry about what we are going to wear (Matthew 7:28-32) God clothed the lilies of the valleys surely, he will clothe us too. We should spend more time embracing our inner beauty by having condence from within by this we will nd our identity, in Christ Jesus and not our hair, clothes, and jewelryGod wants us to look inwardly rst and outwards second. erefore, let us not spend more time in the mirror than we do in prayer. We can sit in a salon chair for hours but cannot sit in God’s presence for thirty minutes. May we have a desire to invest more time in our spiritual growth rather than physical beauty. e Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart (I Samuel 16:7) I am certainly not suggesting that it is a sin for a Christian woman to wear gold jewel, or to braid their hair, nor to put on designer clothes. Howev-er, we should not allow it to drive us, we must be careful not to become obsessed with our appear-ance. Our focus should be our character, behav-ior, our walk with God, and a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in God’s sight.Lastly, I absolutely like fashion, nevertheless I do not want to be remembered by what I wear, my hair, nor my jewelry. I want others to see God in me. I pray that the fruit of the Spirit will be evi-dent in my walk with God and others. I seek to overow with love, joy, gentleness, and patience.

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73WOMENDISCOVER YOUR DISCOVER YOUR INNER BEAUTYINNER BEAUTYBY PRISCILLA BOOKERFor we are already beautiful. “ank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous, how well I know it.” (Psalm 139:14)PRAYERGracious God,Please stir us to spend more time in Your pres-ence. I am so grateful that you created us in Your image, for You O’God our creator, You knit each of us together in the womb, You knew us and set us apart. ank you for reminding us that we are a royal priesthood that you have designed us to be in his world but not of this world. We don’t need clothes and possessions to dene us, Your Word is our declaration. For we know that charm is deceptive, and beauty is eeting, but a woman who fears You is to be praised. We seek today to nd our identity in who You have declared us to be, we seek to live lives that lead others You. When we don’t see our beauty please guide us back to your Word, reminding us that we are daughters of the King.Amen

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74EDUCATION/MENTORS/COACHESA MODEL OF GOOD WORKSBY REGINALD MAYESTITUS 2:78 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, digni-ty, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. In the midst of a world gone mad, our young people face many challenges. In addition to parental guidance, they need the direction and guidance of teachers, mentors, and coaches to help them navigate around the traps that can snare them. Satan and the world uses social media, music, movies, etc. to deliver messages that go against the Word of God. It requires all hands on deck to reach the goal of training up our children in the way they should go. is is a good work. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” As the work-manship of God, we are called to good works. Others may do good deeds, but good works are relegated to the domain of those who follow Jesus Christ. eses good works are prepared beforehand by God. is term good works ap-pears six times in Titus. We must be connect-ed with the Father through the Son in order to be able to recognize and complete these good works. Our text, Titus 2:7-8 calls for mod-eling good works, showing integrity, dignity, and sound speech. All these traits are critical to the development of our youth as we teach, mentor, or coach. Titus is one of the pastoral epistles (1, 2 Timothy, Titus) written by the Apostle Paul in order to give instructions on how the Church should conduct itself. Chap-ter 1 gives us the qualications for leadership. Chapter 2 shows how the people of the church should conduct themselves. In chapter 3 we have the declaration of the source of our salva-tion, which is the mercy of God [3:5-7]. is along with further instructions on how to live. Along with mod-eling good works we are called to Integ-rity. is is doing the god-ly thing even when nobody’s looking. e inter-

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75esting thing about this statement is someone is always looking. God is omniscient and omnipresent, so He is always aware of what we are doing. But besides Him, even when we think no one sees us, those we teach, men-tor or coach have their eyes on us, seeking the truth of our words. Dignity is to act in the right way, and the only right way is God’s way. Sound speech is daily conversation that is consistent with sound doctrine and cannot be condemned. e condemnation will still come from those who oppose the children of God, but the lies will be evident when com-pared with the life we live. is would be a life that is pleasing to God. ose who interact with our youth need our prayers for salvation, guidance, and direction as they can carry out the good works that God has prepared before-hand for them to walk in. Prayer Father, You chose us before the foundation of the world to be adopted into Your family. We who love You and are called according to Your purpose are Your workmanship called to per-form good works which You prepared before-hand that we should walk in them. Father, we li up before You those who will pour into the lives of our young people. We pray that they will submit to Your will for their lives by rst submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in their lives. We pray that they will model good works, integrity, dignity, and sound speech. We pray that they will understand that God calls those who teach to a higher standard and are accountable to Him for what they model. We pray that they will model what is pleasing to You. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen

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76roughout history dierent cultures and society have relied on the oral tradition of storytelling. It’s been a valuable tool for passing information, culture norms and customs, from generation to generation. While valuable, the danger comes when the older generations fail to communicate these traditions, values, and norms to the younger generations. In the bible we read stories about how the children of Israel experienced God and saw his faithfulness. ey experienced God providing food daily, parting the red sea, slaying their enemies; they saw the walls of Jericho fall and much more. e generation aer them reaped the benets of their fathers and lived a life of luxury without the sacrices and adversities their fathers endured. ey heard the stories but never experienced the power of God the way the past generation did. is brings us to JUDGES 2:10 which reads: All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and another generation rose up aer them who did not know the Lord, nor even the work which He had done for Israel.Aer all that God did for the children of Israel and their children and their children’s children, they failed to pass down the good news and stories of God’s goodness. Many might read these verses in the Bible and think, wow, that could never be us. Well, we are living in a society where lack of respect, lack of motivation and overall concern for the future are more commonly accepted. If we continue down this path what will be le for the generations to come? Excellent educators are walking out in large num-bers and mentors for our younger generations are

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77EDUCATION/MENTORS/COACHESscarce. e respect we had for our parents and grandparents is rare. It’s time to carry the torch and remind this generation of the miracles we’ve experienced. Continue to tell the stories of his goodness and all he has done for us. Don’t hide the struggle and provi-sion. Tell your students, tell your mentees, the ones who look up to you, who the true source is. As you approach today, be intentional. It is our responsibility to pass the word of God on to the next generation. Ask yourself, What can I do to make sure the next generation knows the Lord and never forgets?Prayer: Father, thank you for blessing us with the tools to be a blessing to others. Help our children to navigate through these unprecedented times with the same power and conviction that guided generations before us. Shine your light on them so that others may see your light through them. We didn’t stumble upon your word by accident. It was passed on to us through parents, friends, mentors, educators, pastors and many other avenues. Help us to be intentional about passing along the gospel to the generations coming aer us. Grant us the wisdom and discernment to be witnesses even to others through the social me-dia platforms our kids access. Set them apart. We ask these things in Jesus name, Amen. Teaching Truth to the Next GenerationBY ELAN FONTENOT

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78LAW ENFORCEMENT/ MILITARYDEFEND THE WEAKBY PASTOR SCOTTIE CLARKPSALM 82:34Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;maintain the right of the aicted and the desti-tute. Rescue the weak and the needy;deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”As I take a step back and gaze at the world we live in today, one thing comes into mind and that’s corruption. Whether it’s Police brutality, Congress in ghting, unfair sentencing from judges the list goes on. But it’s clear that the Authority that God has ordained for this world has issues. In Psalm 82, which is a Psalm of Asaph, the very same situation we are dealing with is at hand. Asaph asks the question in verse 2, How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wick-ed? is is a question that we oen nd ourselves asking. But in verse three there is a reminder to people who serve in Authority Positions of what their ordained duty is supposed to be about. e text says in verse 3, Vindicate the weak and fa-therless; Do justice to the aicted and destitute. Rescue the weak and needy; Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked. So, beloved, that should be the prayer for the Authority gures that serve in this day and time. PrayerFather, we thank you for the people that you have placed in this world as Authority gures. We pray that they will rule with their heart for you doing the things that you have asked of them. Vindicat-ing the weak and the fatherless, doing justice to the aicted and destitute and rescuing the weak and needy. I pray that you will cover them and their families as they lead and most of all that they will come to saving faith in your Son Jesus Christ.

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80PSALM 82:34Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;maintain the right of the aicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy;deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”In Psalm 82, the Lord stands before the “great assembly” – those who can render judgment. We are reminded that the Lord is the nal judge. He reminds us of the measure He uses to judge with. As He presides over those with the position and author-ity to render judgment, He repri-mands them for evaluat-ing unjustly, allowing the sinful and the wicked to have their way. He watches as those set to judge are partial to wrongdoers. How is that, we ask? e Lord declares that the criteria being used to evaluate and judge is faulty. In this life, is the measure by which we eval-uate others on track or is it faulty? Are we distracted and inuenced by wealth, renown, strength and beauty? Are these the things that we think add value and merit in our eyes? Do we go so far as to ignore and even denigrate that which the Lord our God would have us pay most attention to? According to this psalm – we likely do as do the congregation of the mighty. When we nd ourselves in positions of power and authority, in spaces in which we render judgment, God’s charge for us is to defend those who are weak, impoverished, and fatherless. He calls us to acknowledge, accept, and engage those who are aicted and weak and in need. Instead of being partial to those who have their needs fullled, our attention should be turned towards to people in need. We are called to res-

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81LAW ENFORCEMENT/ MILITARYTHAT THEY WILL BE PEACEMAKERS WHO APPLY JUSTICE & SACRIFICEBY CHARLENE FLASH HODGEcue the helpless from the hand of the wicked. As we reect on God’s plan for our lives and for our community, let us pray that all who render justice -whether leader, judge, police ocer, soldier or citizen – be stirred to defend the weak, protect the poor and serve the needy. PRAYERDear Holy Father, ank you for being the all wise, all knowing, judge of all. Forgive us for the ways we have fallen short of your will. Cleanse us from sin, refresh our anointing and renew our focus on your will. ank you for guiding us and reminding us where our attention should be. Help us to consider people in need and be stirred to serve, defend and bolster those who are weak, poor or alone. ank you, Lord, for seeking us out in our weakest mo-ments and making us whole. As we walk by faith we ask this and all things in the precious name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

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82GOVERNMENT/ POLITICAL LEADERSGOD’S KINGDOM PURPOSE FOR OUR COUNTRYBY REGINALD MAYESPSALM 33:1011 10e Lord brings the counsel of the nations to noth-ing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. 11e counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. Commentary - Do we believe that God is sovereign? Sovereign means having supreme rank, power, or authority. If we say we believe this, are we living our life as if this is true? e Bible reveals that not only is God sovereign, but He is all knowing, all powerful, everywhere present and He loves us. He loves us with the kind of love that prompted Him to send Jesus Christ to die for our sins while we were still sinners, separated form God. He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus says My Sheep hear my voice and they follow me. What voices are we listening to? Jesus says He is our peace. Jesus says to be anx-ious for nothing. Jesus says I will never leave you or forsake you. Compare this to the voices of the news, social media, politi-cians, or pundits. Our text, Psalm 33:10-11, speaks of the sovereignty of God in the political arena. But let’s back up to vers-es 1-3. ese verses are a call to praise followed by causes for praise [4-22]. His Word which is faithful and true is a cause for praise. His love of righteous-ness and justice is a cause for praise. His creation of the world and power over nature is a cause for praise. He is in control over the nations is a cause for praise. God’s purpose for our political leaders and government is that He be gloried. Despite the chaos we see all around us, we have to remember that God is sovereign, and He loves us. We must listen to His voice

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83and focus on Him. PRAYER Father in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ we give thanks for the United States and its govern-ment. You have called us to be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from you and those that exist have been instituted by You. We li up before You the men and women who are in position of authority. We pray for guidance, direction, discernment, protec-tion for the president, vice president, representa-tives, senators, judges, rst responders, as well as the governors, and mayors of this nation. We pray that the Spirit of God will rest upon them.We trust You to impart skillful and godly wisdom for our leaders. We pray that they will seek rst the kingdom of God in all their actions and lean not on their own understanding. We pray that they will embrace Your sovereignty in all matters. We pray that You deliver them from evil in them-selves and others.We pray that You will surround our leaders with those who bring them godly counsel. We pray that You will mold them into people of integrity, with compassionate hearts. Give them hearts that are concerned with all people regardless of race, social status, or wealth from the wound to the tomb. We pray that You will remove those with hard hearts, full of evil and replace them with people who are aer Your heart. You said that “blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord”. We receive your blessing on this nation. You are our Refuge and Stronghold in times of trouble. We know that the heart of the king is in Your hands and that You turn it whichever way You desire. We place our leaders in Your hands. You have called upon to pray for all those in authority so we may live a quiet and peaceful life. We li them up in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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84One of the most inspiring and thought-provok-ing preachers of our time “Dr. Charles Swindoll’’ reminds us that “unity” is one of several key factors in successfully building and maintaining a healthy “God centered and Spirit led” ministry. He says: “Union has an aliation with others but no common bond that makes them one in heart. Uniformity has everyone looking and thinking alike. Unanimity is complete agreement across the board. Unity, however, refers to a oneness of heart, a similarity of purpose, and an agreement on major points of doctrine.” – Charles Swindoll As we embark on this prayerful journey toward the union of two vibrant ministries, let us always bear in mind that this occasion is undeniably a divine manifestation, one not to be misconstrued or misinterpreted as a mere human undertak-ing. When we read 1 Corinthians: 11:17-22 the apostle Paul addresses specic issues within the Corinthian church related to the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. 1 CORINTHIANS 11: 17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18 In the rst place, I hear that when you come togeth-er as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. While this passage does not directly discuss building a church, or the merging of two dynamic ministries. It does provide valuable principles that can be applied to fostering unity and harmony within our newly minted “One church community.” Here are ve things that we can all do that will fa-cilitate molding One Church into “ONE Church.” 1. Avoid divisions, factions and forming cliques by promoting an atmosphere of unity, harmony, and prompt sincere reconciliation aer a disagree-ment. 2. Emphasize mutual respect and consideration by creating an environment that encourages mutu-al respect and care for one another’s needs and perspectives. 3. Open our hearts and our doors to serve one an-other. We should emulate the unity found in Jesus Christ by serving one another selessly. 4. Lead by example: demonstrate humility, self-lessness, and a commitment to unity. 5. Pray for unity like Jesus prayed for his disci-ples. Make prayer a part of your daily routine. Seek god’s guidance in maintaining harmony and cohesion within the church. With these ve things in mind let us condently take this opportunity to

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85ONE CHURCH MERGERRESEMBLE THE UNITY OF JESUSBY WILLIAM WITHERSPOON SR.boldly approach God’s throne of Grace. PRAYER“Heavenly Father, we humbly approach your throne of grace as ‘One Church,’ united in the body of Christ Jesus, to earnestly petition these few things for the sake of your glory:” *Lead us with your boundless wisdom and guidance in all matters aecting “One Church.” *Guard our hearts and minds from any deceitful spirit of confusion that may rise up in opposition to your divine purpose and intention for ‘One Church.’ * Cancel out the evil plans of the enemy and trans-form any obstacle placed before us into a step-pingstone of grace and mercy to guide us along your intended path. *Empower us to continue serving as a brilliant beacon of hope in a world full of darkness. *Grant us the power to persevere as a ‘city of refuge for every weary soul seeking solace from the burdens of this life. *Endow us with unity, cooperation, and transparent commu-nication throughout every ministry functioning within “One Church.” *Bless every member of the ‘One Church’ family to walk in prosperity in accordance with your divine word, will and pur-pose, encompassing every spiritual, mental, physi-cal, emotional, and nancial dimensions of life. *Overow ‘One Church’ with dedicated servants and abundant resources, all bound in unity, to continue and expand your ministry into the sur-rounding communities. *Enable “One Church” to stand united as an uncompromised, uninching, and inuential force in the surrounding commu-nities. It is in in the powerful, penetrating, and peaceful name of Jesus Christ our lord and savior that we pray and say - Amen.

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86ONE CHURCH MERG-ERFULFILLING THE GREAT COMMISSIONBY PASTOR MARCUS HOLMANMARK 16:14-1514 Aerward mhe appeared pto the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their qunbelief and rhard-ness of heart, because sthey had not believed those who saw him aer he had risen. 15 And he said to them, t“Go into all the world and uproclaim the gospel to vthe whole creation. 16 wWhoever believes and is xbaptized ywill be saved, but zwhoever wdoes not believe will be condemned.Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hard-ness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him aer He had risen. And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.Jesus spent three years ghting the hard hearts of Pharisees, scribes, Herodians, and chief priests, but also, and perhaps most frustratingly, His disciples. e Twelve liked the perks of following a rabbi and had no problem letting their insider position go to their heads, but time and again they proved that Jesus’ message didn’t get into their hearts. All of us have experienced hardships and dif-culties that we know God has allowed but hasn’t explained. Once we are through, we see the reason, whether for blessings or to prepare us for a greater work. e disciples have under-went the same thing. On the third time Jesus told the disciples of His coming death, Luke explains, “But they understood none of these things. is saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said” (Luke 18:34).

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87Now, as Jesus explains what the Jewish Scrip-tures really say about the Messiah, “he open[s] their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45). Clearly the disciples could not under-stand what was hidden from them, but they, like we, should have been faithful to what they were taught. We need to adopt Paul’s charge to Tim-othy, “continue in what you have learned and have rmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it” (2 Timothy 3:14). If we accept and act on what little we understand of God’s plan, He will reveal more to us (Matthew 25:21).He revealed him-self (v14a) Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table.In demonstra-tion of power, he appeared to them POST resurrection!In fulllment of Scripture, he arose from the dead in bodily form. He rebuked their unbelief. (v14b) and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart because they did not believe those who had seen Him aer He had risen.He rebuked them because of the state of be-ing someone in whom condence cannot be placed— ‘lacking in trustworthiness, unfaithful-ness.e risen Lord is a living conrmation of the ultimate promise of GodHe refreshed their mission (15a) And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.ough they doubted, he still refreshed their mission. Which was and is very simple. “Go and Preach!”

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89PASTOR’S CLOSINGPASTOR LAWRENCE SCOTTAs we close out the 21 days of praying and fasting, I pray that you’ve experienced a deep connection with the Lord personally and corporately. We believe the scripture when it says, “the eectual ferventprayer of the righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16). Our time together was not simply a religious exercise; instead, a chance to draw near the throne of grace, on one accord, seeking our great high priest.For those who may have determined that yourprayer life had become lethargic, we pray that you found new energy and will have a better rhythm of prayer in the future. We hope your prayer time will continue to be a daily priority past these 21 days. Wepray that you will sit in a posture of expectation, knowing that we serve a sovereign God.We hope you will nd satisfaction, not simply in His response to your prayer, but in the fact that God has availed Himself to lend His ear to your petition. We pray that you were bold in your requests to the Lordand that you maintain that it’s God’s will or bust. For those whose prayer life was already full, we pray that you found great encouragement gathering with the saints, some of whom you may never know by name, liing a unied voice to our gracious and loving Father.We pray that God moved uniquely in your life and lled you with great joy and hope in Jesus. Lastly, suppose you participated in this time of prayerout of curiosity and don’t have an authentic relation-ship with Jesus Christ; we pray that you will accept Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord. We encour-age you to put your faith and trust in Jesus, believing by faith that He died on the cross for your sins and accepting His oer of forgiveness.Family, this would be an excellent place to pauseand celebrate God for all He has done during our 21 days together and anticipate all He has in store. Now may “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen” (2 Corinthians 13:14).