Includes...
Here is today's communion meditation.
Colossians 1 is one of my favorite passages of scripture. There are several things in this chapter that have truly been life changing for me. Colossians 1 contains a prayer that the apostle Paul says he keeps praying. If he is praying this continually it is probably important, and it is very similar to the prayer we use every day in Ephesians 1.
Colossions 1:3-14
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, ou...
Here is today's communion meditation.
In Luke 14:10-11 Jesus says...
But when you are invited, go and sit in the last place, so that your host will come and tell you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in front of everyone at the table with you. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
There are so many amazing promises in the Bible for the humble but something I am learning is that we must keep repositioning ourselves back into humility every single day, because pride has a tendency to want to creep back in. But if we humble ourselves God will move us forward. This takes trust that God will take care of us, rather than us having to exalt ourselves.
Today's communion is a time of gratitude that God gives grace to the humble, and we are asking for his help to stay consistently positioned in humility each day.
Today's Health/Workout Tip
Whenever you are lifting weights foc...
We are in a time of the year when it is important to have clarity and develop a more efficient strategy.
Today’s principle is that order always leads to clarity.
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 that we have direction for our lives and can make...
Here is today's communion meditation.
In Luke 10 is the story of Mary and Martha. Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to him, while Martha is working away doing everything that needs to be done around the house. The whole time Martha is fuming on the inside that her sister isn't helping her. Our first lesson is that if we are doing work while angry that others aren't helping us, we are already in the dark, because our focus is off.
Finally, Martha, complains to Jesus that Mary should be helping her. But Jesus says, " “Martha, Martha you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
I had always focused on the one thing portion of this verse, but what really stood out to me the other day is the last phrase that says... And it will not be taken away from her.
Today's communion is a time to focus on Jesus and asking for his help to keep...
Here is today's communion meditation.
Keeping the momentum is very important. It takes a lot of effort to keep starting and stopping, but momentum makes things a lot easier. Momentum has to do with velocity and speed. In most things it takes a while to get up to speed, and then it hits a point where the momentum begins to carry you forward. But, if we are constantly starting and stopping, we never get the benefits of momentum, and everything feels harder.
Hopefully you've gotten 2022 off to a good start and I want to encourage you today to keep the momentum going, even if it's just small steps in the right direction. Keep taking steps forward to make TODAY a masterpiece. Sometimes there will be harder days when you are pressed on time and unexpected things happen and on those days it's very important to keep the momentum.
Here is the question I like to ask on those days... What can I do? Maybe you can't do your full routine or everything you wanted... But what ...
Here is today's communion meditation.
We have been talking about making today a masterpiece. I think it starts with the belief that God has a plan for today. He has designed a day for you to walk out today. But, during that day there are both hidden traps that try to steal your day and hidden opportunities for good things to happen that you weren't planning on.
These traps that try to steal your day usually start out as tiny thoughts... Thoughts of overwhelm, pressure, worry, resentment, getting offended or annoyed by people, pride, and so on. They start as tiny thoughts but continuing to think and meditate on these thoughts grows them to a place where they can steal our focus and day.
You can wake up with excitement for the day, but somewhere during the day these thoughts are going to come to try and steal your day. The first key is understanding that this is going to happen, and then being prepared to cast those thoughts down and stay focused on God and doin...
Here is today's communion meditation.
In 1 Samuel we see two different stories of baggage.
The first story is about Saul who was anointed by God to be the king of Israel. When it came time to present him as the king to the people, they couldn't find him and it says in 1 Samuel 10:22 So they inquired again of the LORD, “Is there a man still to come?” and the LORD said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”
When David fought Goliath, he got up early that morning and it says in 1 Samuel 17:2 Then David left the baggage in the care of the baggage keeper and ran to the battle line. And he entered and greeted his brothers.
Saul was hiding in the baggage, while David left his baggage behind in order to go fight the giant. In order for us to step into what God for our lives, I think it requires leaving any baggage from the past behind, and it is going to require courage. When we leave the baggage behind, we can run. Hebrews 12:1 says let us also lay asi...
Here is today's communion meditation.
Lately I have been thinking about why God made our bodies.
In 1 Corinthians 6 it says that the body is for the Lord and the Lord for the body.
I think we have a body so that we can partner with God to display who he is. We can be his voice, his hands, and feet to display his love, grace, beauty, kindness, goodness, patience, wisdom, and all of who he is.
Today's communion is a time of gratitude for the New Covenant, and that we can partner with God. And we are asking God for help to firm up our commitment to our partnership with him so that we display his splendor even more.
Something I have learned is that if you will commit to this then he will sustain your body.
Today's Health/Workout Tip
In the Daily Communion Workout, there is an exercise called Shoulder Press that is done for 4-8 repetitions. The goal in this exercise is to get stronger for a lower number of reps. Increasing pressing strength in the lower repet...
Here is today's communion meditation.
In Isaiah 43:25-26 God says, “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Put me in remembrance; let us argue together; set forth your case, that you may be proved right.
God blots out our transgressions for His sake, not ours, so that he will not remember our sins. 1 Corinthians 13 says that love keeps no record of wrongs.
When we put God in remembrance of us, he now sees who we are in Christ.
Jesus said as often as we take communion to remember him. It is an opportunity to stir his sacrifice into our remembrance to that we don't forget that he is with us. And it is also an opportunity to commune with God and put him in remembrance of us as well. And when he remembers us, the result is that we are proved right or righteous in his sight because of Christ.
Today's communion is a time of gratitude that God does not remember our sins and a time to put him into remembranc...
Here is today's communion meditation.
Yesterday we talked about the importance of embracing those times when life gives you variety and knocks you out of your normal schedule. It turned out yesterday was one of those days for me, which is why today's video is a little different.
In Mark 8 Jesus has just multiplied the loaves and fish and fed the multitude and then the disciples get in the boat, and they are arguing/complaining about how they only have 2 loaves of bread. Jesus looks at them and says... Don't you remember?
Don't you remember when I broke the bread and fed thousands and still had 12 baskets left over. Don't you remember... Do you still not understand?
Jesus said as often as we take communion to remember him.
Communion is an opportunity to remember that when it looks life you don't have enough, or you are in an impossible looking situation he is with you, and nothing is impossible with him. Stir this into your remembrance today. Remembering him ...
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