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Recently I was reminded that one big decision changes all of the little decisions we make throughout the day. The other day after watching wrestling I decided that I was going to cut my bodyweight down to 184lbs. Immediately, when I made this decision, it began to impact all of the little decisions I would make throughout the day about food and exercise. The one big decision became the filter for all of the other decisions. Think of this like setting a destination into a GPS. Once the destination is entered all of the little steps on the path show up.
This principle comes from the one big decision we have... To make Jesus the Lord of our life.
To make him Lord means we do what he says. The one big decision becomes the filter for our thoughts, words, and all of the little decisions we make. This now means forgiving and loving others, giving other people grace, being generous, and walking out his plan and purpose rather than our own. But until we come to a firm un...
Lately I have been thinking about what I call " Pockets of Prosperity," which are small areas or communities of people that are thriving. For example, I was talking with my daughter the other day about Silicon Valley, because that is where I grew up. Why is it that several of the biggest businesses in the world are all in one place? I was also thinking about our local wrestling program. We have a high number of really good wrestlers that come from our area. If you study this concept, you will find swim clubs, tennis clubs, weightlifting clubs, music academies, etc that all produce a very high number of really skilled people from small areas.
When I wrote my book " Pockets of Prosperity," the main theme was not just prosperity for ourselves, but for the entire community of people around us. An entire community that is thriving. How do we create Pockets of Prosperity? This is something I have studied quite a bit and it usually starts with one person. One person who...
One of the amazing things about God is that he is always the same and never changes. Today we will be looking at one passage from the Old Testament and another from the New Testament that both tell us the same thing.
In the book of Genesis, Jacob steals his brother Esau's birthright and blessing, so his parents send Jacob off to find a wife because Esau wants to kill him. On his way God appears to Jacob and tells him that he will be with him and watch over him. Over the course of 20 years Jacob grows very prosperous and has 2 wives, 12 sons, flocks, herds, and servants. Eventually God tells him it is time to go back, but Jacob is fearful of seeing his brother Esau again. In preparation of meeting Esau, Jacob sends a huge amount of presents to Esau in order to pacify Esau's wrath. But to Jacob's delight Esau is actually excited to see Jacob and he tells Jacob that he doesn't need all the gifts.
Jacob responds in Genesis 33:11 with "Please accept my gift that was...
Something I have learned about time is that it's relative. The way we experience time can change and it can feel like it's moving either faster or slower. On God's Yearly Cycle the Spring is the time of year when time accelerates. You may have been experiencing this lately where it seems like the days are going by faster. And it is going to continue to accelerate until we get to the day of Pentecost (June 4th). When we get past Pentecost time begins to slow down again. As the pressure increases during the heat of the summer time will feel like it is slowing down in late August and September.
The accelerated time we are in right now is a good thing, because it's a reminder that God is trying to accelerate us into his plans and purposes for our life. But, if it feels like time is going too fast one of the best ways to slow it down is by setting deadlines. We can set mini-deadlines during the day of working on a project for certain period of time or a deadline for t...
Our local high school has one of the best wrestling programs around and one of their coaches used to be a trainer in my gym so we would often have the whole wrestling team training in our gym. This last weekend a few of those kids were wrestling in the NCAA Championships so I spent some time watching wrestling over the weekend. While I was watching a few of the matches the commentators kept talking about one wrestler trying to get his opponent out of position. Part of our walk with God is being a good wrestler and maintaining our position in Christ.
When I woke up yesterday morning my bookmark just happened to be on Genesis 32 where Jacob wrestles with God and a few other scriptures about wrestling also came to mind. Here are some of the scriptures.
Wrestling With God - Genesis 32:22-32
22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream,...
When one of my daughters was potty training, she would sit on the little kids' potty for about 1 second and get up saying... Nothing Happened! And she would repeat this over and over.
This reminds me of my prayer life when I first started with God. I would pray and immediately nothing happened so I would pray again. I had to learn to get to the place of believing that the moment I prayed "Something Happened," and to rest and trust that God heard my prayer and was working on it.
Today's communion is a time of gratitude then when we pray something happens. God hears our prayers and goes to work immediately. And we are asking for his help to rest and trust that he is working in those times when it seems like nothing happened.
Today's Workout/Health Tip
There are the commercials with a guy who gets on a treadmill for a few seconds, then jumps off and weighs himself thinking he surely has lost weight. In health and fitness, it is also easy to fall into this trap ...
Yesterday on our Yearly Cycle update we said that Spring is a reminder that God makes all things new. And there was a list of 4 scriptures to meditate on about God making things new. As I was getting ready for bed last night, I felt God was nudging me to really look at those scriptures.
Down below are those 4 scriptures again but before we get to the scriptures here are a couple of things to think about as you read through these scriptures.
Isaiah 43:18-19 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness...
Here is this week's Yearly Cycle Update.
The Spring is a reminder that God makes all things new. Here are some scriptures to meditate on about God making all things new...
Isaiah 43:18-19 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
Revelation 21:5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Isaiah 65:17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.“But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
I am praying for you.
Daniel
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 b...
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 point today...
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