Unity 4 Us Community Outreach

Unity 4 Us Community Outreach We provide emergency housing and resources to return to a productive and meaningful life.

04/02/2024

Grateful Morning FBFF

03/30/2024

The Day That Changed Everything

He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying”

—Matthew 28:6

The resurrection of Jesus Christ changed everything. It changed a group of disillusioned, discouraged, downhearted disciples into a group of on-fire, passionate preachers who turned their world upside down. And the resurrection of Jesus can change your life as well.

It can bring something we all need, something that seems to be in short supply today: hope. We must have hope to survive in life. Someone has said that we can live forty days without food, three days without water, about eight minutes without air, and about one second without hope.

The Bible tells us about two disciples of Jesus who had lost hope. It was their understanding that the Messiah would overthrow the tyranny of Rome. But, in passages such as Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53, the Scriptures speak of a suffering Savior—not a militant Messiah.

However, the people seemed to miss that. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, and the people laid branches at His feet and shouted: “Hosanna!” (Matthew 21:9 NKJV), they showed their misunderstanding of why He came. “Hosanna!” means “Save now!” So essentially, they were saying, “Overthrow Rome now! Establish Your kingdom now!”

In their minds, everything seemed to be going beautifully. But suddenly and unexpectedly, one of Jesus’ own handpicked disciples betrayed Him. Jesus was sent to trial, and in a rush to judgment, they scourged Him and ultimately murdered Him in cold blood before their eyes.

His followers were absolutely devastated. This was their Messiah. This was their hero. And this was their friend. They still loved Him. They respected His teachings and honored His memory. But they felt He had failed. They thought He had come short of what He had arrived on this earth to accomplish.

Despite the fact that Jesus said He would die and rise again, they missed that memo. They wanted to get out of Jerusalem as quickly as possible. As two of Jesus’ disciples were walking and talking about everything that happened, Jesus came along and began walking with them.

He said to them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?” (Luke 24:17 NLT).

Did you know that Jesus is walking with you, too? He noticed the sadness written across their faces, and He sees the same with us. If it troubles us, it troubles Him. If it concerns us, it concerns Him.

Although Jesus was walking with the two disciples, they didn’t know it was Him. Luke’s Gospel tells us that God prevented them from recognizing Jesus (see 24:16). In the same way, God is with us, whether we know it or not. When you put your faith in Jesus Christ, He becomes a part of your life and promises that He never will leave you or forsake you.

He not only is with you on sunny days, but He is also there on cloudy days. He not only is with you on the mountaintops, but He is also there in the valleys. He is walking with you through everything that you’re facing.

03/29/2024

Grateful morning FBFF

03/29/2024

Carrying the Cross

Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.’”

—Matthew 16:24

Pilate had done his dirty work. A garrison of soldiers gathered around Jesus and began to mock Him. They called Him a king and put a robe around His shoulders. And then they took a crown of thorns and pressed it into His head. They also gave Him a reed for a scepter and then struck Him with it.

Little did these soldiers know how easily Jesus could have gotten out of that situation. His armies were on standby. Angels were there, no doubt, with swords drawn, just waiting for the word from Jesus.

Remember, when Simon Peter tried to defend Jesus with a sword in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus told him to put it away. He said, “Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?” (Matthew 26:53 NLT).

In case you’re wondering how powerful an angel is, the Old Testament tells us that one angel killed 185,000 of Israel’s enemies (see 2 Kings 19:35; Isaiah 37:36). Therefore, thousands of angels could no doubt do some serious damage.

Jesus, however, took the beating. He took the abuse. He took the mockery. This is why He had come. It’s why He was born in Bethlehem. The wise men insightfully recognized this by offering Him the gift of myrrh, which was an embalming element. He was born to die.

The soldiers led Jesus away and forced Him to carry His own cross, which would have weighed three or four hundred pounds. So much for the anemic version of Christ that we often see depicted in religious art. Jesus wasn’t doing this as God; He was doing it as a man—a man who bled, suffered, and was in pain.

Understandably, He fell under its weight. So, the soldiers forced a man named Simon, a Cyrenian, to carry the cross for Jesus. And for a few steps, we don’t know how many exactly, Simon was able to relieve some of Jesus’ suffering by carrying His cross.

Now, perhaps Simon wasn’t all that thrilled about doing this. But, some passages in Scripture suggest that Simon and his family became believers as a result. If I could travel back in time, I would go to this moment in history and carry the cross for Jesus, even for a few feet.

Of course, we can’t literally carry the cross like Simon did. But Jesus said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24 NLT).

This means placing God’s will above our own. It means taking our plans, our aspirations, and offering them to God. It means obeying God’s Word and standing up for Jesus when it isn’t popular. And it means loving God more than anyone or anything else.

To take up the cross and follow Jesus is a willingness to make any sacrifice He asks. Are you taking up your cross? You can, and you should carry the cross today.

03/27/2024

Grateful morning FBFF 🥰

Truth Incarnate

Then the entire council took Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor. ”
—Luke 23:1

Pontius Pilate was accustomed to people lying. But he wasn’t used to someone being silent. As Jesus stood before him, He professed neither guilt nor innocence.
Pilate said to Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” (Luke 23:3 NLT). He might have even emphasized the word “you.” From his standpoint, here was another criminal, another problem.
But the reply Jesus gave surprised this hardened Roman governor: “You have said it” (verse 3 NLT). John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus also said, “Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?” (18:34 NLT).
No one spoke to Pilate that way. But Jesus exhibited calm in the midst of this storm, and Pilate had never seen anything like it.
Then Jesus said, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true” (verse 37 NLT).
Pilate asked, “What is truth?” (verse 38 NLT). Maybe he even thought, “This prisoner who is going to die shortly has the audacity to speak to me about truth?”
He was a pagan. He had no core beliefs except self-preservation. Today, he would be a moral relativist or postmodernist, holding to the belief that truth is a matter of subjective opinion. In fact, more than 60 percent of Americans don’t believe there is such a thing as absolute truth.
Yet standing before Pontius Pilate that day was truth incarnate. Jesus Himself said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6 NLT). Truth became a man, and there He stood. Yet Pilate asked, “What is truth?”
If Pilate had pressed the matter, he could have found the answers to all his questions. He had a private audience with Jesus Himself.
But what did Pilate do? He left the room.
That is the case with a lot of people when you confront them with the gospel. They don’t want to talk about it. They’ll change the subject. They’ll leave the room. Or, maybe they’ll barrage you with tough questions. They will do anything but listen carefully to what you’re saying because they’re under the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
We can allow indecision to rule our lives as Pilate did. A while back, I was talking with someone after a church service who indicated to me that she wasn’t yet a believer. I asked her what was holding her back.
“Well, I’m afraid,” she said. But she couldn’t tell me what exactly she was afraid of.
“Quite frankly, you should be afraid of life outside of Christ, not life in Christ,” I told her. “Jesus offers you safety and security and fulfillment and protection. It is life apart from Him that you should be afraid of.”
Many times, we can be undecided. However, there’s an element of faith required to believe in Jesus. You won’t necessarily have it all worked out in your mind. But if you will say, “Lord, I choose to believe,” then God will help you in that step you take

03/26/2024

According to Plan

But it was the LORD’S good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. ”

—Isaiah 53:10

It seems like every time we turn around, another high-profile trial is underway. But, the most important trial in human history took place in the first century. It was the greatest travesty of justice this world has ever seen, and its impact continues to this very day. It was when God went on trial.

As Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, a large military force led by Judas Iscariot came to arrest Him. Peter, in a last-minute effort, tried to save the Lord. He pulled out a sword and cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant, whom Jesus promptly healed. That, by the way, was the last miracle Jesus performed before His death and resurrection.

The soldiers first took Jesus to Annas, the former high priest. He also was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest at the time. But Annas was a shadowy, godfather-like figure, and he was the one in control.

Annas had a score to settle with Jesus. Earlier, Jesus had gone into the temple and overturned the merchants’ tables, saying, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves” (Mark 11:17 NLT). Jesus did this not once but twice.

Annas controlled those tables. In fact, they were known as the booths of Annas. He was ripping off God’s people, and Jesus was bad for his business.

Thus, Annas bound Jesus and sent Him to Caiaphas, the ruling high priest who ultimately condemned Jesus to death and sent Him to Pilate for ex*****on. In the midst of all this, they beat Jesus and put Him in chains.

Within twelve hours of His arrest, Christ was beaten and bloodied beyond human recognition and hanging on a crude Roman cross.

But there was more happening behind the scenes that day. It wasn’t simply a story about Annas or Caiaphas or Pilate or even Judas Iscariot. It was the story of good and evil at work.

Satan wanted Jesus dead, so he marshaled his forces and played his wicked hand. In contrast, God wanted the sin of the world to be dealt with. And that only would happen through the death of His Son.

Unbeknownst to them, they were playing into the perfect plan and purpose of God. God the Father declared that the Messiah would not only die for the sins of the world but also die by crucifixion.

Psalm 22 has our Lord saying, “They have pierced my hands and feet” (verse 16 NLT). And Isaiah 53, written hundreds of years before Jesus died, gives a vivid description of what happened when Christ suffered and died. That was the plan of God all along.

Jesus Himself pointed out to His own disciples that He would be betrayed and sentenced to die. They would mock and whip, and crucify Him, but on the third day, He would rise from the dead. It all was going according to plan—God’s plan.

03/26/2024

Grateful morning FBFF

03/25/2024

Happy Monday Lol enjoy your day!

03/22/2024

Grand Rising FBFF

03/22/2024

Grateful morning

When the World Closes In

After saying these things, Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley with his disciples and entered a grove of olive trees. ”
—John 18:1

Jesus knew the crucifixion was coming. In fact, He began to aggressively address it at a place called Caesarea Philippi.
Matthew’s Gospel tells us, “From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day, he would be raised from the dead” (16:21 NLT).
Jesus knew exactly what was about to happen. He had to come and taste death for everyone. As commentator Alfred Edersheim wrote, “He disarmed Death by burying his shaft in His own Heart.”
John 18 gives us a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the personal struggle of Jesus as He contemplated the cup that He had to drink. The Bible tells us that Christ was “a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief” (Isaiah 53:3 NLT). But the sorrow He experienced in Gethsemane on the night before His crucifixion seemed to be the culmination of all the sorrow He’d ever known, which would accelerate to a climax the following day.
I don’t think we can begin to grasp the anguish that Jesus experienced at that moment. Being God, He knew everything. And He was fully aware of what lay ahead. Someone has pointed out that ignorance is bliss, and in some ways, that is true. But there was no ignorance with Jesus. He was omniscient.
And He knew that in just a few hours, Roman soldiers would whip Him and nail Him to a cross. He knew that His disciple Judas Iscariot would betray Him and that another disciple, Simon Peter, would deny Him. And He knew that He would bear all the sins of the world.
Next to the cross, His time in Gethsemane was the loneliest moment of His life. In our moments of loneliness, when it seems as though our friends or family have let us down—or when it even seems as though God has let us down—we must remember one thing: Jesus has been there. And He has been there for you.
Hebrews 4:15 says of Jesus, “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin” (NLT).
We are all going to face our Gethsemanes in life, those times when things just aren’t making sense, when our problems seem too much to bear.
Jesus gives us an example of what we ought to do when we face our personal Gethsemanes, those moments of ultimate stress in which the cup that we are to drink seems to be too much to bear, when we seemingly can’t go on another day. He prayed.
During those dark nights of the soul when our friends have abandoned us and our family has let us down, when we are lonely, when it seems as though the whole world is closing in on us—that is the time to pray.

03/21/2024

Grand Rising FBFF!

03/21/2024

Today’s Devotional
Heavenly Father, as You appeared to Job and spoke to him as a Father to a child, I thank You that You desire to speak to me in the same manner when I lose sight of Your glory and perfect ways. I now know that my lack of understanding doesn’t take away from Your sovereignty, but instead it causes me to lean into Your presence more so I can receive the answers my heart longs for. I confess that even though I'm in pain I will not give myself permission to doubt Your plans for my life. You are the God of the Universe, the Creator of all things and the One who puts air in my lungs. Therefore, I will acknowledge You and acknowledge that all Your ways are perfect and flawless. Through the evidence of my past victories and through the life of Job, I know that if You allow something to exit my life, it's only because You are making room for more! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

03/20/2024

The Day Jesus Got Mad

And he stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace.”

—Mark 11:16

If you’ve ever watched a Western, then you know that if you want to make a point, you turn over a table.

After Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, He entered the temple, looked around, and assessed the situation. Then, He returned the next day, and He began to cleanse the temple by driving out the merchants and turning over their tables.

Mark gives us these details in his Gospel: “When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves” (Mark 11:15 NLT).

Maybe you’re thinking, “Now, wait a second. I thought Jesus was meek and mild. Isn’t that how a Christian should be?”

Let’s understand what that means. Jesus did say, “I am humble and gentle at heart” (Matthew 11:29 NLT). The problem is that we sometimes equate meekness with weakness. We think that to be a Christian, we need to be soft-spoken. That’s what we think meekness is. But that isn’t meekness; that is just quietness.

The image of Jesus knocking over tables and chairs of the money changers isn’t what we’re used to. As a matter of fact, in the way artists portray Jesus in traditional religious art, He doesn’t look like He could turn over a chair, much less a table.

But the Jesus of the New Testament, the real Jesus, was a man’s man. He was strong. The merchants’ tables weren’t little temporary folding tables. Rather, they were massive tables made of heavy wood, maybe even marble. And Jesus turned them over. It was complete chaos as doves flew out of their cages, and money flew everywhere.

Meekness is not weakness. It is power under constraint. Meekness is being able to do something and choosing not to. Weakness, on the other hand, is not being able to do anything. That is the difference.

Jesus was applying meekness. He was indignant and angry because they were hurting God’s people. He told them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves” (Mark 11:17 NLT).

They were preventing people from worshipping the Lord. Instead of praying for the people, these religious leaders were preying on the people. If worshippers wanted to pay the temple tax, they had to exchange their money for special half shekels in the sanctuary, which were the only form of currency the temple accepted. But it came at a hiked-up price.

The same was true for sacrificial animals. If people brought in their own animals to sacrifice, the animals would be rejected, which forced them to buy the merchants’ more expensive animals.

The bottom line is the merchants were keeping people away from God. And that made God angry. Very angry. In the same way, we need to ask ourselves this question: Am I a bridge or a barrier to people coming to Christ?

03/18/2024

God on Their Terms

Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting, ‘Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the LORD!’”

—Mark 11:9

During His earthly ministry, Jesus seemed to do a lot of things under the radar, so to speak. On some occasions, when certain things were expected of Him by others, He said, “My time has not yet come” (John 2:4; 7:8 NLT).

And what was the “time” that Jesus referred to? It was His betrayal, His death, and His resurrection.

But in Luke 19, we find Jesus doing something that definitely caught people’s attention. He decided to enter Jerusalem on what would be His last arrival in a way that would draw attention to Himself. That is because His time had come.

Jesus was playing His hand. He was doing something that would force the authorities to react. And He was arriving in a way that would be understood by both the Jews and the Romans. We pick up the story in verse 35: “So they brought the c**t to Jesus and threw their garments over it for him to ride on. As he rode along, the crowds spread out their garments on the road ahead of him” (verses 35–36 NLT).

Mark 11 adds this detail: “Many in the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others spread leafy branches they had cut in the fields” (verse 8 NLT).

At that time, when a conquering hero returned from a battle, he entered the city on the back of a donkey. To the Romans, Jesus was clearly declaring that He was a hero, a king.

To the Jews, Jesus was plainly saying that He was the Messiah. He was fulfilling prophecy. Zechariah 9:9 says, “Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey—riding on a donkey’s c**t” (NLT).

Add to this the fact that Jesus was a wanted man at this point. The Bible tells us that the chief priests and Pharisees gave the order that if anyone knew where Jesus was, they should report it so they could seize Him.

Therefore, Jesus was saying, in effect, “You want Me? Here I am. I am ready. My time has come.” This shows us that Jesus wasn’t a hapless victim; He was a victorious King with an objective to accomplish.

The people, seeing Him arrive, shouted and sang, “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!” (Luke 19:38 NLT).

The disciples’ hearts probably were leaping for joy as they took in the scene. But Jesus experienced great sadness on this day because the crowds largely were ignorant of His true role.

The people wanted a military Messiah who would accomplish their agenda. Meanwhile, Jesus was coming as a suffering Savior to accomplish God’s agenda.

In the same way, people today celebrate Christmas and Easter, but they neglect Him the rest of the year. They want Jesus in their lives—as long as He does what they want Him to do. Effectively, they want God on their own terms.

03/16/2024
03/16/2024

MY SQUARE IS CHANGING

03/16/2024

What Prayer Isn’t About

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. ”

—Matthew 6:33

Prayer isn’t about changing God’s mind. In many cases, prayer is about changing our minds.

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He told them, “Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9–10 NLT).

Not that we could, but why would we even try to talk God into something that is not His will? Prayer is getting God’s will on earth, not our will in Heaven. Prayer is not pulling God our way; it is pulling us His way.

After Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, He appeared to Mary Magdalene at the tomb and said, “But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God’ ” (John 20:17 NLT).

It no longer was only Jesus who could call Him Father. As believers, we can call him Father, too, because of our relationship through Christ. Jesus said, “I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you” (Matthew 18:19 NLT).

Of course, our prayers need to be aligned with the will of God. But the point is that praying together makes all the difference in the world. There is power in unified prayer. Galatians 6:2 tells us, “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ” (NLT). Don’t do life alone. Don’t try to be a solo Christian.

Christians need to pray with other Christians. And when we pray for God’s kingdom to come, we’re really saying, “Lord, I long for Heaven.” God has prewired every Christian to know Him. He has prewired us to long for a place that we have never seen. It is like the homing instinct we see in the animal kingdom. God has placed it in human hearts as well. We long for Heaven. We’re homesick for Heaven.

Therefore, when we pray, “May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven,” we’re saying that we long for the day when we’ll be in Heaven, in the presence of the Lord. But we’re also saying that we long for the day when Jesus will come back to this earth again.

In addition, we’re saying, “Lord, I want Your rule in my life. I want You to take charge of my life. I want to give You the master key of every door in my house. I want to give You all my passwords. I want You to have access to everything.”

That is what Jesus meant when He said, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:33 NLT).

Jesus gave us this template for prayer to encourage us to pray. And we need to pray about everything

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