Includes...
This week our challenge is to connect with God on a new level. Something I have been doing to help with this is to have a journal by my side while reading my Proverb every morning and taking notes. Yesterday I was reading Proverbs 3 and verses 7-8 really stood out. Here is what they say...
Proverbs 3:7-8 -Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. 8 This will bring healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.…
This verse reminds me of James 4:7 which says, "Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Step one is to fear the Lord, which means to honor and have reverence for him. Then we can resist or shun evil, and it will bring healing to our body.
Today's communion is a time of gratitude for having God in our life and that he can bring healing to our bodies. And we are asking him to help us walk out fearing him and shunning evil in our lives so that it brings healing to our bodies and refreshment to our bones.
Tod...
This month of August we will be doing the Connection Challenge. In the Connection Challenge we are going to pick one area each week to focus on taking our connection to a new level.
This week our challenge is to connect with God on a new level.
To connect with God on a new level we can do basic things like taking communion, reading his word, praying, praising, listening for him, and thinking about him throughout the day.
What I want us to focus on this week is the way we do these things. We can read our Bible to check it off the list for the day or we can read it to truly connect with God. It is the way we practice these things that leads to connection. In order to connect with God on a new level this week be more present with him, listen to understand, and keep him top of mind throughout the day.
August's Journal Filter (To write at the top of your journal each night)... Prioritize connection
I am praying for you!
Daniel
P.S. If you would like to join n...
Recently a verse from Hebrews 10:5 keeps coming to mind. Jesus says, "Sacrifices and offering you did not desire, but a body you have prepared for me." I feel like God is trying to show us something about the phrase... A body you have prepared for me.
Here is Hebrews 10:5-7 for a little more context...
Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me;6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. 7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, my God.’’
These verses remind me of Romans 12:1 which says, Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
In today's communion we are asking God for wisdom and understanding of these scriptures and what they practically mean for us today. And we are are a...
I used to have a baseball coach who was an excellent hitting instructor, and he would always teach that if the beginning and the end of the swing were in the correct place that everything in the middle would tend to workout. This is a Biblical principle, because Jesus is the beginning and the end. But Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 7:8 that the end of a thing is better than the beginning.
Finishing things is better than starting. Sometimes we are good at starting things but not so great at finishing them. But Jesus is the author and the finisher of our faith, and he can make us great finishers.
Today's communion is a time of gratitude that Jesus is the beginning and the end and the author and finisher of our faith. And we are asking for his help to be great finishers by looking unto him.
Today's Health/Fitness Tip
In workouts we often do finishers. I think of our Daily Communion Workout as having 3 sections... General fitness, weight training, and recently I...
Recently I have been meditating on Ephesians 6:8 which says, "knowing that whatever good thing each one does, he will receive this back from the Lord, whether [he is] slave or free." The context of this verse is doing our work as if serving God rather than people.
This verse says.. We should KNOW that whatever good we do we will receive back from the Lord.
But, when do we receive it back from the Lord? Here are a few verses on the timing of when God does good.
God doesn't wait to give back to us, that would violate his Word.
Today's communion is a time of gratitude that whatever good we do we receive back from the Lord. And we are asking God for insight and understanding of all ...
In July our message was Confidence Through Praise. For me personally this was probably one of the most impactful lessons we have done. Through praising God consistently and filling up the basket of praise we can grow more confident in our faith.
Through the month I began to implement a very simple routine of praising God both morning and evening. In the Old Testament temple David said he was given plans in writing from the hand of God for how everything was to run. Part of the plan was the Levites were to stand praising God both morning and evening.
This is something I started implementing for a few minutes in the morning and before bed. I would praise God for who he is, all that he has done for us in Christ, and all that he has done for me personally, including things I am believing for but haven't seen the answers show up yet.
Doing this consistently seemed to greatly increase my capacity to believe God and my confidence in him grew a lot. It felt like my ...
Recently I have been thinking about a couple of scriptures that tell us to lay hold of what God has given us. Here are the scriptures:
Philippians 3:12 - Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
1 Timothy 6:12 - Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Today's communion is a time of gratitude that God has given us eternal life. In the original Greek language eternal life is "zoe," life, which is the life and vitality of God himself. And we are asking God to help us lay hold of "zoe," life and that which Jesus laid hold of us for.
Today's Health/Fitness Tip
It's important to remember that progress comes in waves, and waves have a top and bottom. There may be times when it seems like no progress is happening, but that just means ...
Here is this week's Yearly Cycle Update.
Recently we had a Yearly Cycle reminder that God's favor surrounds us like a shield and is on us for a lifetime. His favor produces opportunities. This week is a reminder to be looking for opportunities to connect, help others, and be a blessing. Sometimes these opportunities come disguised as problems or difficult people. But these are opportunities to see God's grace flow. God is sending amazing opportunities every day, but we often miss them because we are too busy doing our own thing.
Here is this week's filter(reminder) to write at the top of our journals each day... Look for Opportunities.
I am praying for you.
Daniel
P.S. The Yearly Cycle Calendar for 2022 is down below.
P.P.S. The Connection Challenge starts next Tuesday. This is an opportunity to connect on a new level with God, our purpose, our loves ones, and the community around us.
1 John 4:16-18 says, "God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."
The other day I was in a discipline situation with one of my kids. She knew it was discipline time and so she was scared of me and was trying to hide. When I saw this happening, I knew I needed to make a change and approach the situation with gentleness because perfect love drives out fear, fear having to do with punishment.
Taking a different approach to the discipline turned it into a great time of connection, and a noticeable change in her.
God wants us to run to him instead of away from him, when we miss it, and it is perfect love that drives out fear. I have learned that it should also ...
In my book "The 8th Date," there is a section at the very end of the book that talks about circles and shadows. To be honest this section of the book is something God taught me and contains some precise math, but I haven't fully understood how to walk in what he showed me yet.
But lately he keeps bringing the idea of circles back into mind because we have been talking about planning. An important part of planning is accounting for all of the variables. And when thinking of the variables I have found it's helpful to think of a circle surrounding the plan and looking for all the different areas that could be problematic.
When we completely wrap the circle, it means we have light shining from every angle and the shadows/blind spots are removed.
In today's communion we are asking God for help to understand this concept of wrapping areas and plans with circles and to help us walk in this consistently.
Today's Health/Fitness Tip
One of the ways to start practi...
Sign up to receive Yearly Cycle Updates delivered to your inbox.