10082020 Daily Devotion

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IKJnQSNFAB0&list=PL_0tD1UhR2aCdl_QynOA6Ujr8IYAgsAZM&index=5

Good morning brothers and sisters, this is Alice from HarvestLA. Today is Thursday, October 8th, 2020. Today's daily devotion is Jeremiah 44:11-19. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we praise You and we love You. Please give us hearts of hunger and thirst for your teaching and love. In Jesus's name we pray, Amen!

Jeremiah 44:11-19 11 “Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am determined to bring disaster on you and to destroy all Judah. 12 I will take away the remnant of Judah who were determined to go to Egypt to settle there. They will all perish in Egypt; they will fall by the sword or die from famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by sword or famine. They will become a curse and an object of horror, a curse and an object of reproach. 13 I will punish those who live in Egypt with the sword, famine and plague, as I punished Jerusalem. 14 None of the remnant of Judah who have gone to live in Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah, to which they long to return and live; none will return except a few fugitives.” 15 Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were present—a large assembly—and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt, said to Jeremiah, 16 “We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord! 17 We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our ancestors, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm. 18 But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine.” 19 The women added, “When we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did not our husbands know that we were making cakes impressed with her image and pouring out drink offerings to her?”

I can totally understand why is Jeremiah called the weeping prophet. How heartbreaking is that for God to say to His beloved people, they will be a curse and an object of horror, a curse and an object of reproach and that He will punish them!
God knows us even before we were born and the very hairs of our head are all numbered. God loves us dearly and faithfully. He created the light, the sky, the land, the seas, the plants, the trees, the sun, the moon, the stars, the creatures that live in the sea, the creatures that fly, the animals that live on the land and then finally humans. God has everything ready before humans came to be. Again and again for years God sent prophets to warn, to admonish the people of Israel. In verse 16 the Israelites said to Jeremiah, "We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord!" Their hearts were hard like stone, they turned God away, they worshiped other gods and they rejected the prophets that were sent by God.
If you know someone is about to walk into danger. Won't you inform them? If they ignore you, you will go get someone else to alert them until they are out of danger.

Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we praise You and we love You. The year of 2020 is truly not an easy year. With the pandemic, the wildfires, the earthquake, climate change crises, economic decline, man-made disasters and such. Please comfort, heal and provide those who have lost their loved ones, people need to recover their physical or mental health, who have financial needs and the like. Lord please watch over us, for You will neither slumber nor sleep. In Jesus's name we pray, Amen!

Prayer meeting - 08302020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XFYwLaAS1k&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3xIKzFfKhnZvGosr_v7XzIAwR-rS0mONy41LB1CSt4MYePzJOakvAZlm8
Good morning everybody, welcome to our big family, HarvestLA for prayer meeting. Thank God that we can connect with each other through the Internet. 
Today I have two worship songs that I want to share. The main reason that I like to share songs with not only because I love to sing along with it also there times that those worship songs keep me company when my heart was in trouble and I couldn't find any words to pray.
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_0tD1UhR2aDOa0ybFAqkmulgrx8dDhWA

Though the year 2020 probably been the worst of the year for most the people. Still, there are a bunch of blessings to be counted.
The graduation of the class 2020, the ordination of pastor Jacky, Jacky and Charlotte is expecting their baby girl, welcome the new member of the 5th graders to HarvestLA! They are Amanda, Elizabeth, Emily, Ephraim, Isabel, Johan, Joovy, Joyce, Matthew, and Renee,  the engagement of Joel and Emily, for the birthday boys and girls, the anniversaries, the new 2020 class, for all our safety and health etc. The list can go on and on. 

As we thank God for all the blessings we still a lot of things we need to pray for. There are over 600 wildfire alone in California. Pray we won't lose hope and bring all your needs to God.

Pray for brothers and sisters health and safety. Pray for the spiritual growth, the relationship between brothers and sisters. Pray for our Sunday school teachers. Pray that through their teaching, people would further take root and bear fruits in His Word. Prayer for Sri Lanka, among 22 million of population majority are Buddhist and then there is Hindu and Muslim the percentage of Christians is the least only 7.4 percent, prayer the faith and safety of the Christian and pray them be the salt and light unto others.

Lately I've been watching some lessons online. My attention span is like five minutes I am constantly checking how many minutes are left. I only take down some notes, no inactive with the teachers, no homeworks and no exams to take. Good job to you all are taking classes online. So proud of the students and their parents. And cannot image if I have young kids to take care of in this typical situation. How am I going to entertain them, keep them learning and everything.

Closing prayer, let pray for the following Sunday service. Dear Heavenly Father, we praise and we love you. May Your light shine upon us. Pray for the worship leader and today's speaker. May everyone be blessed and touched by God's love. We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen!

Prayer meeting - 07122020

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=piT0KbGWurc
Good morning brothers and sisters! My name is Alice from HarvestLA, welcome you to join our Sunday service.
Pastor Jacky's ordination was yesterday, congrats. Also Jacky and Charlotte are expecting their second child soon congratulations again. I just have to share something about pastor Jacky's ordination that the prelude Amazing Grace is my favorite song the all time, even before I know that is a Christian song, before I become a Christian. And the ending hymn, The Blessing, somehow I chose it as today's opening prayer. What a wonderful coincidence! Originally I want to sing, but as the California ban singing in church, I will read the lyrics aloud instead. But those who are at home, please feel free to sing along with.
The Blessing | Kari Jobe | Elevation
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jDMijhOUOqk

I will have some worship songs playing during the prayer meeting. The ban of singing will not to stop our of praising and worshipping and praying to our God! 
And I will turn on my phone of the live streaming. Don't worry about interrupting me at any time, feel free to drop me a word or lines or a prayer request for yourself or for others. If not, then I will keep on talking and without singing. You know I've the microphone.

Ryan Stevenson - With Lifted Hands

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hBEyUsB7olI
Matt Maher - Alive & Breathing feat. Elle
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gYUJjsgd96k

Ryan Stevenson - No Matter What (feat. Bart Millard of MercyMe) [Official Lyric Video]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9fSy9yIcoew
Before we pray I just want to remind everybody wear masks when you are out in the public, practice social distancing at all time, maintaining good hygiene and try not touch or lean on the surface of public places. 
First of all we need to pray for the pandemic will end soon. So we go back to our normal lives. Pray to keep everyone safe and sound.

Pray for Student Ministry, the current one are Neil, Ning, Jimmy, Ashly the helper. And for pastor Jacky's disciple making. Thank you Lord for their willingness to serve. They need spend time, energy besides their own busy lives. Pray that the Lord for providing their needs, strength, wisdom and so on. Watch over their families so they can serve You without worries. Also, we need two more student advisors. Pray for the Lord to utilize more people in serving student ministry.

Pray for Operation Compassion. Pray that through this operation not just feed their physical needs, let them touched by the Love of our Lord. Pray for their peace without fear, especially in this pandemic. Pray for their souls will be saved. Pray for those lost souls will find their home in You.

Pray for Global Warming. The ocean's temperature raising will cause weather and environmental disaster like flood, drought, wildfire and more. Pray for the wisdom from You especially for the leaders. Pray they will cherish God's creations over political, personal benefits when they make major decisions.
Pray for every individual will do our own part in saving our earth. 
Reuse, reduce, recycle and repurpose. You can save the the the washing water from wash fruits, vegetables and dishes if you don't use detergent like me. Drive less, make compost, use the reusable shopping bags and more. There are many ways you can help by little action one at a time.

Dear Heavenly Father we praise You and we love You, please prepare our hearts in worship You. On Jesus's name we pray Amen! 

06172020 Devotion

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2SbmS99dG0

Good morning brothers and sisters, this is Alice from HarvestLA. Today is Wednesday, June 17th, 2020. We are going to study God's words of Deuteronomy today. 

Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we praise You and we love You, please help us know You more and listen to You, in Jesus's name we pray Amen!

Let's read today's bible verses. Deuteronomy 31:30-32:14 The Song of Moses 30 And Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel: 32 Listen, you heavens, and I will speak; hear, you earth, the words of my mouth. 2 Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. 3 I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! 4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he. 5 They are corrupt and not his children; to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation. 6 Is this the way you repay the Lord, you foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you? 7 Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you. 8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. 9 For the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance. 10 In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye, 11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft. 12 The Lord alone led him; no foreign god was with him. 13 He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him with the fruit of the fields. He nourished him with honey from the rock, and with oil from the flinty crag, 14 with curds and milk from herd and flock and with fattened lambs and goats, with choice rams of Bashan and the finest kernels of wheat. You drank the foaming blood of the grape.

The book of Deuteronomy is a retelling of God's Law, how God rescued Israel from Egypt, the relationship with them. And in the song of Moses, is actually the last day of his life, God told him to pass on the baton to the next generation's leader Joshua for Israelites. Again, it repeats once more how God's Grace has been present from the beginning. Informs them about the consequences if they turn their face away from God. God is almighty, He can make things right just like so, yet He gives them free will. They are like rebellious children, walking away from God's Mercy! How foolish and unwise that they didn't choose life over death and the blessing over the curse. True freedom is choosing not to do the things that you shouldn't do! In Hebrews 12:11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Recalling my life before knowing Jesus, I rely on myself for everything. I never thought I should depends on any gods. Even after I baptised I ran away from God when everything and my life seemed perfect. I alone is good enough, I thought. I lost the faith, I lost the identity as God's child. But when I returned to Him, He forgave me. God has never given up on us even we sinned. 

Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we praise You and we love You, thank You for Your faithfulness and unfailing love, in Jesus's name we pray Amen! Until next time, bye!