Includes...
Here is this week's Yearly Cycle Update.
We are approaching the Feast of Purim on March 16-17. The tradition on Purim is to fast during the daylight hours on March 16th and feast in the evening and through the next day as a reminder of how quickly God can take us from fasting to feasting. Purim is a reminder of the story of Queen Esther. There was a law written that was going to destroy God's people. In those days when a law was written it could not be undone but Esther petitioned the king to write a new law that put God's people in control and gave them mastery over their enemies.
Here are some reminders for us from this story...
I am praying for you. ...
For a long time I wavered on whether I was supposed to do business or ministry. Should I be selling what I have or giving it all away for free. But then God began to teach me to do business AND ministry. I believe that in some way or another we are all called to both business and ministry because there is some work we are supposed to be doing. And in whatever we do, we need to mix both the principles of good business and ministry. Jesus said in the parable of the talents to "Do business until I return." I think doing business means to be a good steward, diligent, track the results, be looking to expand, and operate at a profit so that the mission can continue. To do ministry means to do good, be generous, help people, and connect them to God by letting people see God through you.
In whatever we are doing all of these things need to be combined.
Another verse that has really helped me is Proverbs 11:24-26...
One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another...
1 Peter 1:2-11 says...
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to 3 his own glory and excellence,4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue,5 and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Th...
One of the most important lessons I have learned about faith is that faith is decisive. As long as we are indecisive and waver back and forth nothing happens. But as soon as we make a firm decision to believe God things start happening. One of the best examples I have heard of this is Billy Graham. There is a story Billy Graham told about how early in his walk with God he was wavering on whether certain promises in the Bible were really true. People were questioning him about these promises, and he was wavering back and forth. He said he went out into a field one day and placed his Bible on a tree stump and DECIDED at that moment, that everything in the book was true. From that moment on he said... was when everything changed for him.
The way we receive salvation from God requires a firm decision to believe him and the process for receiving anything else from him is the same... It starts with a firm unwavering decision to believe him.
In today's communion we ar...
One of my fitness mentors trained many athletes who won gold medals in the Olympics, and he used to repeatedly say..."We get what we tolerate."
I think what he meant by this is that we need to raise our standards of excellence and not tolerate less. Our standard is Christ, we are to be growing more like him and not settle for less. To set a higher standard means first getting clear on what our standards are and making a firm unwavering commitment to them, because as long as we are wavering back and forth nothing happens and we will settle for less. Faith is decisive.
But these firm unwavering standards must also be mixed with a gentle approach and a lot of grace. This is what God does for us. His standard never changes, and he will not tolerate less, but he gives us a whole lot of grace and is gentle with us to help us reach the standard.
In today's communion we are asking God to help us get clear on His standard for our lives and to firm up our commitment to t...
Today's communion is a time of gratitude and receiving some amazing promises God has made in Jeremiah chapters 31 and 32 about the New Covenant.
Jeremiah 31:33-34
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Jeremiah 32: 38-41
And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put...
Lately we have been talking about the conversion or turning that happens in our bodies when we turn thoughts into action. We are also approaching the TURN of the year in the Feast of Purim(March 16-17), which is a reminder of how quickly God can turn the tables. In Purim the people were in an impossible situation, but God turned it around and gave them the upper hand.
As I was thinking about these things, I read Jeremiah 31 and the subtitle of the chapter is... The Lord Will Turn Mourning Into Joy.
Jeremiah 31;11-14 says, " For the Lord has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more.
13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old ...
Yesterday we said that when we turn our thoughts into actions there is a conversion that happens from digital to analog that helps us to remember and not forget. For example, thinking about gratitude is not the same as writing it down or speaking it. And if we can physically express gratitude in 2-3 ways it is even more powerful because the Bible tells us that 2-3 testimonies or witnesses is how things are established.
In this process it's important that we understand how information is converted into both digital and analog formats. This is something I wrote about in my book Cracking Heaven's Code and have known for a while but in today's communion we are asking for God's help to truly understand how this works in our bodies and to help us practically apply and walk in this principle, because I truly believe this is the secret to how we reprogram the software of our bodies and restore them to Abundant Health.
It's also very interesting that God is bringing this...
Here is this week's Yearly Cycle Update.
We recently entered into Lent, which is a reminder to abstain from our works and to allow God to do his work through us.
We are also approaching the Feast of Purim on March 16-17. The tradition on Purim is to fast during the daylight hours on March 16th and feast in the evening and through the next day as a reminder of how quickly God can take us from fasting to feasting. Purim is a reminder of the story of Queen Esther. There was a law written that was going to destroy God's people. In those days when a law was written it could not be undone but Esther petitioned the king to write a new law that put God's people in control and gave them mastery over their enemies.
This new law turned the tables, which is a reminder that Jesus is our table turner. He didn't come to abolish or get rid of the Old Covenant, but he gave us a New Covenant that overrides the old, puts us in control and gives us the upper hand.
I am praying ...
Earlier this week on our partner's Zoom call we discussed the importance of putting something physical with what we are doing. For example, writing down or speaking things we are grateful for is not the same as just thinking thoughts of gratitude. Thoughts on the inside are in a digital form, but when we physically express them into the world through speaking, writing, moving, action, etc there is a conversion that happens, and it turns into analog form that helps to us remember and not forget.
One of the words that came up on our Zoom call this week was a "witness," or a "testimony." When we physically express things into the world it creates a witness or testimony, and the Bible tells us that every fact must be established by the testimony of 2-3 witnesses. Which is why it is important to express things into the world in more than one way. For example, we have recently talked about combining communion, journaling, and physical exercise. Three things that we act...
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