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Here is today's communion meditation.

Every time we take communion it's important that we take it with the Fear of the Lord. Isaiah 33:6 says that the Fear of the Lord is the key to the treasure.

Down below is a passage on the Fear of the Lord from my book The 8th Date.

Multiple times in the book of Proverbs, we read that the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of both wisdom and knowledge. Developing wisdom, understanding, and knowledge all start with the Fear of the Lord. For a while, I wondered what the Fear of the Lord was. It doesn’t seem like a loving God would want us to be terrified of him. Imagine two different fathers. One father is physically and emotionally abusive, while the other is kind, loving, and always wanting to help you become great. The second father is constantly speaking life to you and gently mentoring you on how to truly live. The first father generates fear about being in his presence. With the second father, you would be afraid of not h...

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Here is today's communion meditation.

What is the fear of the Lord? The Amplified Bible defines it as reverence and regarding God as truly awesome. I think of it as awe, honor, and respect for him, where we fear not having God in our lives, and make it our goal to do what is pleasing to him. 

The other night I was reading Deuteronomy 31:9-13 with my kids and it says...

9 So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Festival of Tabernacles, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the Lord your God and follow carefully all the wor...

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Here is today's communion meditation.

Romans 14 provides advice on how to live in a way that is both pleasing to God and receives approval from people. Sometimes it can be hard to do both of these at the same time, because in an attempt to honor God we push others away. Down below is a passage from Romans 14:13-18 but I would encourage you to read the whole chapter of Romans 14 for context. Prior to this passage it talks about the important of conscience and not violating our own conscience or the conscience of others. To live in a way that is pleasing to God and approved by people, means we stop judging others and put no stumbling block in their way. 

Here is the passage from Romans 14:13-18 

13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. 14 I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone r...

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Here is today's communion meditation.

Today we are continuing in Colossians chapter 1 and going into the first section of chapter 2. Our communion today is a time to meditate on these scriptures and receive these amazing promises. 

Colossions 1:24-29 + Colossians 2:1-5

24 Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. 25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29 To this end I strenuously con...

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Here is today's communion meditation.

Yesterday we went over the first part of Colossians chapter 1. Today we are taking communion over the next two paragraphs. 

Colossions 1:15-23

 15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of...

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Here is today's communion meditation.

Colossians 1 is one of my favorite passages of scripture. There are several things in this chapter that have truly been life changing for me. Colossians 1 contains a prayer that the apostle Paul says he keeps praying. If he is praying this continually it is probably important, and it is very similar to the prayer we use every day in Ephesians 1. 

Colossions 1:3-14

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, ou...

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Here is today's communion meditation.

In Luke 14:10-11 Jesus says...

But when you are invited, go and sit in the last place, so that your host will come and tell you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in front of everyone at the table with you. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

There are so many amazing promises in the Bible for the humble but something I am learning is that we must keep repositioning ourselves back into humility every single day, because pride has a tendency to want to creep back in. But if we humble ourselves God will move us forward. This takes trust that God will take care of us, rather than us having to exalt ourselves. 

Today's communion is a time of gratitude that God gives grace to the humble, and we are asking for his help to stay consistently positioned in humility each day. 

Today's Health/Workout Tip

Whenever you are lifting weights foc...

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We are in a time of the year when it is important to have clarity and develop a more efficient strategy.

Today’s principle is that order always leads to clarity.

A few years ago, one of my gym clients was a scientist who had done a lot of work with liquid crystals. When you think of liquid crystals, think of LCD displays on a phone or TV screen. These crystals have some amazing properties that allow us to see clear pictures on the screen.

What I have learned is that our bodies, as well as all organizations or communities, are actually forms of liquid crystals. Regular crystals are rocks that have a fixed order, but liquid crystals are a combination of liquid and solid that have the ability to adapt and create order.

When the crystals are ordered, they create a clear picture. When they are disordered, they become cloudy and do not produce a clear picture. We all need clarity in life, especially mental clarity, so that we have direction for our lives and can make...

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Here is today's communion meditation.

In Luke 10 is the story of Mary and Martha. Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to him, while Martha is working away doing everything that needs to be done around the house. The whole time Martha is fuming on the inside that her sister isn't helping her. Our first lesson is that if we are doing work while angry that others aren't helping us, we are already in the dark, because our focus is off. 

Finally, Martha, complains to Jesus that Mary should be helping her. But Jesus says, " “Martha, Martha you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

I had always focused on the one thing portion of this verse, but what really stood out to me the other day is the last phrase that says... And it will not be taken away from her. 

Today's communion is a time to focus on Jesus and asking for his help to keep...

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Here is today's communion meditation.

Keeping the momentum is very important. It takes a lot of effort to keep starting and stopping, but momentum makes things a lot easier. Momentum has to do with velocity and speed. In most things it takes a while to get up to speed, and then it hits a point where the momentum begins to carry you forward. But, if we are constantly starting and stopping, we never get the benefits of momentum, and everything feels harder. 

Hopefully you've gotten 2022 off to a good start and I want to encourage you today to keep the momentum going, even if it's just small steps in the right direction. Keep taking steps forward to make TODAY a masterpiece. Sometimes there will be harder days when you are pressed on time and unexpected things happen and on those days it's very important to keep the momentum.

Here is the question I like to ask on those days... What can I do? Maybe you can't do your full routine or everything you wanted... But what ...