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Here is today's communion meditation.

 In our new workbook we start every month with a prayer of petition, which is a formal written prayer request. Through the years I have seen amazing results from this type of prayer, but over the last month God has reminded me of a few important keys to prayers of petition. 

In January, I wrote out my prayer of petition, but about halfway through January things weren't going the way I wanted. When I looked back at my prayer of petition for January, I noticed that it hadn't been signed. So, I signed and dated the prayer and almost immediately I started to see things shift again. 

Then yesterday I was in a real estate meeting that discussed the timing of when a contract is considered fully executed or ratified. It is not until a contract has been signed, sealed, and delivered that it is considered official. This reminded me of the process God has taught me for these prayers of petition (but unfortunately, I had forgotten to ...

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Here is today's communion meditation.

The other day I was in a meeting with a mentor who has been very successful in business. He was talking about how in business, many people become scared when things aren't going well, and they start playing defense rather than offense.

He said, "a surefire way to run a business (or ministry) into the ground is by playing defense. In business you must always play offense."

This reminded me of our Purpose Blueprint in the Abundant Life Blueprint, where we talk about business and ministry. I think of business and ministry as one in the same, because any good business must also use the principles of ministry (doing good for people and being gracious), while all ministries must apply good business principles to be successful. To me business and ministry are one in the same and they play a major role in our purpose. 

In the Abundant Life Blueprint, we have 7 rooms in the house with finances being the center of the room. Finance...

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Here is February's Message

Our message for the year of 2023 is "God Saved the Best Until Now," and our message for February is... To Have the Best Requires a Foundation of Rest. 

February, being the 2nd month is foundations month. In the Old Testament there were two times when the foundation in God's temple was laid in the 2nd month. And this month we are focused on creating a foundation of rest. I think all productivity and work comes from a foundation of rest. It is the rest that builds the potential for greater work to happen. 

This month let's consider some of the following areas of rest:

• Resting in God's promises
• Resting in God's unfailing love
• One of the indicators we are resting in our soul is the feeling of hope. Hope is an anchor for our soul and Psalm 16:9 says our flesh will rest in hope. 
• Getting our physical rest and prioritizing sleep.
• Taking time for recreation... which re-creates us.

Our monthly filter for February is... A Foundation ...

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Here is today's communion meditation.

 My youngest daughter's favorite Bible story is about Jesus' walking on the water. She likes me to tell the story over and over of how Peter starts walking on the water to Jesus, but when he became fearful of the storm he began to sink.  As he is sinking, Peter cries out to Jesus and Jesus stretches out his hand to pull him up. 

But then I always ask my daughter the question... How did they get back to the boat?

Did Peter swim while Jesus walked?

Did Jesus give Peter a piggyback ride or carry him back?

Did Jesus hold onto Peter's hand and drag him through the water back to the boat?

When I ask my daughter how they went back to the boat, she always says they walked with Jesus holding his hand. I don't know if this is true but it seems like the most logical answer. As long as Peter was holding onto Jesus, he could walk on the water back to the boat. 

In today's communion we are asking God how they got back to the boat, a...

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Here is today's communion meditation.

The other day I didn't have my normal Bible, so I was reading some passages in the King James Version, which I don't normally use. Sometimes reading different versions of the Bible can help us see things in a different light. As I was reading 2 Corinthians 10:14 stood out which says, "For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you: for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ."

Some versions of this say we don't overextend ourselves beyond our measure. Learning to not overextend ourselves beyond what we can do applies to just about every area of our lives. 

In today's communion we are asking God to help us understand the importance of not stretching ourselves beyond our measure and to walk in this consistently. 

Today's Health and Fitness Tip

Fitness is one of the best ways to practice not overextending ourselves. I have found that when we humble ourselves an...

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Here is today's communion meditation.

 Lately I have been thinking about the words of Jesus in Revelation 2:26-28...

And to the one who overcomes and continues in My work until the end, I will give authority over the nations. 27 He will rule them with an iron scepter and shatter them like pottery— just as I have received authority from My Father. 28 And I will give him the morning star.…

The phrase "rule with an iron scepter," keeps coming to mind lately. What does it mean to rule with an iron scepter? I think that it means we will enforce the standard of Jesus... which is to love God and love one another. We will enforce the standard of love and giving others grace just like God gave to us. 

In today's communion we are asking God to help us understand the phrase ,"rule with an iron scepter," and how it applies to our lives. 

Today's Health and Fitness Tip

Keep being consistent, stay in rhythm, and find joy in the process. 

I am praying for you.

Daniel

 ...

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Here is today's communion meditation.

This year our message is " God Saved the Best Until Now," and part of walking in God's best is simplicity. Something I have observed is that grace simplifies. Law complicates but grace simplifies. Think about all of the rules and laws in the Old Testament, and grace simplified it all. In a similar way when we give other people the same grace God has given us it greatly simplifies life, but when we retaliate or try to solve things ourselves it greatly complicates things. 

For us to function in simplicity means we must understand God's grace and walk in it, because otherwise we will overly complicate things and make a mess. 

In today's communion we are asking God to help us understand his grace and how it simplifies. And we are asking him to help us walk in the simplicity that comes from grace. 

Today's Health and Fitness Tip

Grace also simplifies our workouts. When we learn to rest and allow God to do the work through us,...

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Here is today's communion meditation.

 In Luke 5 after Peter had fished all night and caught nothing Jesus tells him to launch out into the deep and let down his nets. After letting down his nets he catches such a large number of fish that his nets began to tear. Lately this phrase "launch out into the deep," keeps coming to mind. This year our message is God Saved the Best Until Now and I think launching out into the deep may be a part of walking in God's best. 

In today's communion we are asking God to help us understand what launching out into the deep means for us and to help us apply what we learn. 

Today's Health and Fitness Tip

One way to easily add variety to our workouts is occasionally changing little factors like how the weight is held, hand position, foot position, etc. For example, a squat can be done with a wide stance, narrow stance, slower tempo, one dumbbell held in front of the body, 2 dumbbells held on the shoulders, or a barbell on the fro...

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Here is this week's Yearly Cycle update.

This year our message is "God Saved the Best Until Now," and we are in a time of the year when it is important to have clarity and develop a more efficient strategy. 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 tha...

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Here is today's communion meditation.

 The other day my daughter and I were reading Matthew 9 and the phrase "The Lord of the Harvest," really stood out to me. Over the last several months we have talked about the names of God. He has a lot of names and another one of his names it the Lord of the Harvest. 

Here is Matthew 9:35-38 

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Today's communion is a time of gratitude that he is the Lord of the Harvest. And as Jesus said to do we are asking him to send workers into his harvest field. 

Today's Health and Fit...