Listen to the Audio

Here is today's communion meditation. 

When my wife, Tricia, gave birth to our second daughter Kiera’s the epidural did not take away all the pain. As we approached the birth of our third daughter, Reina, my wife asked the doctor if it was normal to still have quite a bit of pain and pressure even with the epidural.

The doctor said the reason for the pain was that he didn’t get ahead of it soon enough. He said if the epidural is put in too late, it often doesn’t work as well. With this in mind, when we went in for Reina to be born, they put Tricia’s epidural in very early. The result was a very easy and uneventful labor and delivery. I sat there and watched the monitor as Tricia was having big contractions, the same level that made her miserable in the previous delivery, and this time she just sat there watching TV and eating ice chips like nothing was happening. The whole process was easy because we got ahead of the pain.

Proverbs 22:3 and 27:12 both say that a...

Listen to the Audio

Here is today's communion meditation. 

Today I have a challenge for us... 7 Days of Only Praise coming out of our mouths with no complaining or criticizing. 

My mom once told me the story of a woman who had raised several foster children from very bad backgrounds and every one of them turned into an amazing person. She said her secret was to praise each child for something they were doing well each day. My mom asked if there was ever a kid, they had a hard time finding things to praise. The woman said there was one kid who was a mess and was constantly in trouble, but they liked the way he combed his hair. So, they started praising him for his hair and he began to turn. 

Complaining and criticizing others doesn't make them want to change, it's only grace that makes people want to change. Our challenge is to only have praise coming out of our mouths for 7 days to God, about ourselves, and toward others. Proverbs says that he who has a bountiful eye will be blesse...

Listen to the Audio

In December our message for the month is Life on Purpose. This month we will be discussing finding our purpose and seeking God for his direction for next year. Here are some things I have learned about our purpose. 

God created each of us with an individual purpose that is unique to us and he eagerly desires for us to find and fulfill this purpose. According to Proverbs 20:5 our purpose is in the deep waters of our heart and Proverbs 18:5 says we pull it out with our words. 

Our purpose will combine our talents, experiences, and stories into something that is unique. It is the way these are combined or stacked that makes our gift unique. But, to be unique will require faith and courage to break free and do things differently. 

First, we must seek God to find our purpose, then we must refine our gift through consistent practice with God as our coach. As we grow in our purpose God will take us through a progression to make us fruitful, multiply us, and increase us...

Listen to the Audio

Here is today's communion meditation. 

As we get closer to the end of the year it's a good reminder to look back at how far you've come. We often get focused on the struggles of today or looking at the ideal of where we want to be in the future, and this can make us feel frustrated and discouraged. But, looking back at the progress you've already made and how far you've already come builds gratitude and encouragement, which leads to the courage you need for today. 

The other important part of looking back at our progress is understanding that God is progressive and wants to do more in the future than he has already done. This builds expectation so that we wake up excited for the day. A good practice to get into is looking back at each day, week, month, and year at the progress that was made and the things that went well. 

In today's communion it is a time gratitude for all God has already done in our lives and that he wants to do even more moving forward. And we...

Listen to the Audio

Here is today's communion meditation. 

The other day my family and I watched the new Karate Kid movie. In the movie, Jackie Chan is teaching the young boy Kung Fu and he says, " Kung Fu is in everything you do and how you treat people." 

The movie reminded me that Christianity is supposed to be in everything we do, because it is in us and part of us. It is supposed to overflow into the way we...

• Think
• Treat people(especially when they wrong us)
• The way we do our work
• The way we take care of our bodies
• The way we use our time
• The way we handle our money
• And even little things like how we wash the dishes or take out the trash. 

Everything we do is an opportunity to partner with God and release his grace, peace, joy, love, and beauty into the world. Everything we do can be an act of worship. 

Today's communion is a time of gratitude that because of Jesus we have God with us, and he wants our relationship with him to overflow into everything we do. 

I a...

Listen to the Audio

Here is today's communion meditation. 

In 1 Timothy 1:16 the apostle Paul says, "I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.”

God has unlimited patience for us, and part of his grace is that he has given us this unlimited patience on the inside of us. We don't need to pray for more patience, he has already given us his unlimited patience. But, we can ask for his help to tap into the patience he has given us and to see it flowing at a greater level. 

Today's communion is a time of gratitude for his unlimited patience to us and to ask for his help to see this unlimited patience flowing and working in our lives. 

I am praying for you. 

Daniel

Listen to the Audio

Here is today's communion meditation. 

Isaiah 59:21 says, “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.

This is an amazing promise that is part of the New Covenant. It's not something we can make happen on our own, but a true gift of grace. 

Today's communion is a time of gratitude for the New Covenant and a time to receive these promises from God.

I am praying for you. 

Daniel

Listen to the Audio

Sunday night is the start of Hanukkah, which celebrates the miracle of God making one day’s worth of oil burn for eight days. This is a time of year for miracles. It is a reminder that when things look impossible, like we don’t have enough, that God can do the impossible.

The key to miracles is believing that nothing is impossible with God—and also this: that miracles happen if we just show up.

Is there something you have been believing God for, but it hasn't happened yet? Maybe it's a breakthrough in your health, in a relationship, or in your finances. You might not think it's possible and that you don’t have the resources to make it happen, but this is the time for miracles.

The people could have chosen not to even use the little oil they had, but they got started anyway.

Believing + Showing Up = Miracles

This time of year is a reminder to firm up our commitment to what God has called us to do and dedicate ourselves to a higher level of love. When we do this...

Listen to the Audio

Isaiah 53:10-12 says,  "Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. 

After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

Jesus was given a portion among the great and will divide the spoils among the strong. And we are in him, which means this is also a promise for us. In him we also have a portion among the great. God is great and he is our portion. 

Today's communion is a time of gratitude for the sacrifice of Jesus and t...

Listen to the Audio

Lately we have been discussing the importance of repetition. It is through repetition that things finally click. 

When things click we understand things we didn't before, and we make connections that we couldn't see before. When things click it is like a whole new world and set of possibilities open up to us that we didn't know existed before. 

When things click everything becomes easier and things fall into place. 

In sports athletes train and train the same things over and over to get to the place where things click and they can perform automatically without having to think about it, which is what unlocks higher levels of performance. 

The same is true of our relationship with God, we must discipline ourselves to practice the fundamentals of connecting with him and following his leading each day. When we do this consistently it leads us to a place where things click and we truly understand that he is with us, he loves, us and he wants good for us. 

There are...