Includes...
The other day I was having a conversation with someone and the word "diligence," kept coming up. The dictionary definition for diligence is careful and persistent work or effort. I always think of diligence as caring about the details but to be diligent also implies being consistent and steadfast. Down below are several scriptures on diligence for us to meditate on today.
Proverbs 10:4 A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
Proverbs 12:27 Whoever is slothful will not roast his game, but the diligent man will get precious wealth.
Proverbs 13:4 The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.
Proverbs 12:24 The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.
Proverbs 21:5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes to poverty.
2 Peter 3:14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to...
Today we continue with the Feast of Purim. Yesterday we finished fasting and today is the time of joy and feasting. Today is a reminder for us that God can turn things around quickly and create turning points in our life. I think of today as the turning point of the year. A turning point doesn't always mean that everything is instantly fixed today but it means that the situation turns in the other direction and the trajectory changes going up rather than down.
Think of taking a car trip and you are heading in the wrong direction. The moment you turn around and start heading in the right direction is the turning point and it is only a matter of time before you reach your destination. As long as you were going in the wrong direction there was no chance of getting to the destination.
Today's communion is a time of gratitude that God can create turning points in our life and he can do it any day, not just today. And we are asking him to create a turning...
Today is the Feast of Purim, which is a reminder of the story of Esther. The typical tradition today is to fast during the daylight hours and feast in the evening as a reminder of how quickly God can take us from fasting to feasting. The fast is not something we do to earn anything with God, but it does give us something to physically do to help us remember. If the fast is something you feel called to do, then make sure to rely on God to help you through the fast, rather than doing it out of will power.
As we remember with both fasting and feasting it helps us to remember both the good times and the bad times. We often want to avoid remembering the bad times, but they are part of the story. It is remembering the bad times that makes remembering the good times that much more powerful because we can see all that God did to turn it around.
As we take communion today it is an opportunity to remember both the good and the bad of the sacrifice of Jesus. To...
Tomorrow is the Feast of Purim, which is a reminder of the story of Esther. The typical tradition tomorrow is to fast during the daylight hours and feast in the evening as a reminder of how quickly God can take us from fasting to feasting. The fast is not something we do to earn anything with God, but it does give us something to physically do to help us remember. If the fast is something you feel called to do, then make sure to rely on God to help you through the fast, rather than doing it out of will power.
In the story of Esther, a law was written that was going to destroy God's people. All of the Jewish people outside the palace were in distress. Esther was in the palace, and everything was good for her. She could have chosen to do nothing and probably would have been ok. But Mordecai, tells her that maybe God has put her in the position of Queen, "For such a time as this."
Esther responds to the call by proclaiming a fast. She chooses to align...
In today's communion we are meditating on the Parable of the Minas in Luke 19:11-27 and asking God for insight and understanding into how to apply the principles of this parable into our lives. This parable is very similar to the Parable of the Talents we did yesterday but there are a few differences that can give us additional insights into the story. Whenever a story is repeated, the differences give us very valuable pieces of information.
Parable of the Minas Luke 19:11-27 AMP
11 While they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they assumed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately [as soon as He reached the city]. 12 So He said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to obtain for himself a kingdom, and [then] to return. 13 So he called ten of his servants, and gave them ten minas [one apiece, each equal to about a hundred days’ wages] and said to them,...
Today's communion is a time to meditate on the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30 and we are asking God for insight, revelation, and understanding on how to apply this parable into our lives.
Here is the parable...
14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents;...
Ephesians 5:9-20 says...
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. 14 This is why it is said:
“Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs...
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...
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...
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...
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