Includes...
God's word is a two-edged sword, meaning there are two sides to it. I have found that for just about every Bible verse there is another that says almost the exact opposite. And it is understanding the balance of the verses and how they fit together that we often gain a deeper level of understanding and insight.
Hebrews 4:12 says "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."
Revelations 1:16 says “And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength."
In today's communion we are thanking God that his word is active and alive and sharper than any double-edged sword. And we are asking for his help to understand the balance of his word and how it all fits together.
Today's Workout/Health Tip
Our bodies...
In yesterday's communion we said that the way or path is narrow, meaning it is easy to get knocked off track. And one of the ways we get off track is we get lured or tempted into quick fixes, fads, and trying to look for short cuts rather than being steadfast and consistent. Here are some scriptures on the importance of not being tossed about by the waves.
Ephesians 4:13-16 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament,...
The Bible is full of verses that seem to oppose each other, and it's in the balance and tension of these verses that we can learn so much. Consider the following verses.
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Here is the way I have always thought of these two verses. Jesus wants to give us rest in our soul, and the things that he asks us to do are usually not overly hard or burdensome. And whatever he asks us to do he provides the grace to walk it out, so we can rest while God does...
Here is this week's Yearly Cycle Update.
This time of year is a reminder to stick with the basics of faith and love. Simple childlike faith with a single-minded unwavering focus on God... that he is with us, for us, and nothing is impossible for him. This confident faith allows us to rest and trust in him and it is expressed in love... Loving God, ourselves, and others.
There might be times of uncertainty and situations when we don't know what to do, and the best thing to do in these times is say... I don't know what to do, but my eyes are on you Lord.
I am praying for you.
Daniel
P.S. The new Yearly Cycle Calendar for 2022 is down below.
There are a number of verses in the Bible about God's will for us. One of those verses is 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 which says, "Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."
This is a very simple verse, but harder to walk in it consistently. I believe it takes keeping our focus on God continually and His help.
In today's communion we are asking for God's help to walk in this continually.
Today's Workout/Health Tip
In my years of training clients in the gym I noticed that there is a tendency for people to become discouraged about their progress at times. If they weren't making progress as fast as they wanted, hit a sticking point, or had some adversity to deal with it was very important to help keep them encouraged. Encouraging ourselves in the Lord is one of the most important skills we can develop because there will be opportunities to get discouraged. If you ever find...
Philippians 2:6-11 says, "Who(Jesus), existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.…
Therefore, God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.…"
The other day as I read this verse it got me thinking about the humility that it took for Jesus to do this. To consider who he is and what he was willing to do is amazing. All throughout the Bible there is a pattern that those who humble themselves will be exalted and those that exalt themselves will be humbled, and pride leads to the fall. In Jesus we...
Lately we have talked a lot about confidence in God, which is the state where all of the doubts are removed. Confidence and faith are very related.
Philippians 1:6 says, "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
We can be confident that whatever God has started in our lives he will sustain and carry it through to completion. When we are confident in this we can rest and trust rather than toiling and trying to make it happen in our own strength.
Today's communion is a time of gratitude that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith and we are asking God for help to be confident in his sustaining power.
Today's Workout/Health Tip
There are many times when people have limitations with exercise. Maybe a certain exercise hurts for whatever reason, you have an injury, you don't have time, etc. Whatever the circumstance might be there is always something that can be done....
Part of what we pray every day in our communion meditations is that God would help us do what is right and best in his eyes today, but how do we know the best choices to make in our lives. In Philippians 1:9-10 the apostle Paul says, "And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ."
When our love is abounding (increasing greatly) in knowledge and depth of insight it teaches us how to discern what is best.
In today's communion we are asking God to help our love abound more and more so that we know what is best.
Today's Workout/Health Tip
Nutrition and exercise are very related, and part of the Daily Communion Workout is eating to perform well in the workouts. Nutrition should be very simple, consistently balanced meals, but the amounts and timing also play a big role. For the amounts or portion...
In Ephesians 3:7 NIV the apostle Paul says...
I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. NIV
The NLT version says...
By God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News. NLT
And the MSG version says...
This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details.
We don't normally think of becoming someone else's servant as a gift. And this verse got me thinking about the relationship between employers and employees. When we work for a business, we don't usually get paid by the customers or clients. We may collect money from them, but that money goes to the employer or business. It is the business or employer that pays the employee not the customers. In this relationship it takes trust that from the employees that the business will...
Galatians 5:25 says, "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
The phrase "keeping in step," makes me think of a dance. God has a beautiful rhythm and timing to everything He does. He is never early or late, but always right on time. Something I have found in my own walk with God is that there were times when I got ahead of him. There were times when I would ask God about certain steps to take but then I wouldn't wait for him to show me, and it resulted in me getting ahead of him. When I got out of his timing and rhythm the grace wasn't there. Matthew 11:30 in the MSG version says there is an unforced rhythm of grace.
There have also been times when I was late, and these were usually times when I kept having a nudge or prompting to do something, but I failed to take action in a timely manner. I knew what to do but failed to take action. To keep in step with the Spirit is to be right in time with God, and when we do this there is a...
Sign up to receive Yearly Cycle Updates delivered to your inbox.