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Part of what we pray each day on the daily videos is the prayer of Jabez from 1 Chronicles 4:9-10. The passage about Jabez says...

Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” 10 Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.

Jabez was named after pain and God granted his request to be free from pain. 

In Isaiah 53:4-6 it speaks about Jesus saying... Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 

God is interested in every aspect of our lives.......

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1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says... Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Our charge is to love God and people which means being both patient and persistent at the same time. Here are some definitions of patience and perseverance...

Patience

• the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.
• the ability to remain calm and not become annoyed when dealing with problems or with difficult people
• the ability to give attention to something for a long time without becoming bored or losing interest

Perseverance

• persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.
• continued effort and determination:

To have both...

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In Luke 2:10 when the angels appeared to the shepherds to announce the birth of Jesus, they said... I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all people. When we understand God's grace in our hearts it should lead to great joy. 1 Peter 1:8-9 says...Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 

I think of joy as my indicator of being aware of God's presence with me. To have great joy requires removing the pressure from yourself and relying and trusting in God. Understanding the good news means understanding God is with you in everything and this should lead to great joy because nothing is impossible for him. An interesting thing happens when his joy is flowing, we get better results. We could be doing all the right things in life but if there is no joy in...

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Psalm 69:30-31 says... I will praise God’s name in song and magnify Him with thanksgiving. 31 And this will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with horns and hooves.

To magnify God is to make him bigger. In life we can either be magnifying light or darkness. We are all magnifying something every day based on what we are thinking about, meditating on, and talking about consistently. When we magnify God by praising him and thanking him consistently I believe it opens up and expands our capacity to receive more from him. Thanksgiving, especially in the face of pressure or problems, is one of the greatest expressions of faith. 

Being thankful puts us into a position to receive from God, and some of the side effects of thankfulness are supernatural peace and joy. I am seeing more and more that being consistently thankful may be one of the most important things we do. It opens up everything else. The alternative is complaining, which...

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The video and audio training above are from the 7 Dates With Jesus Online Course. 

The feast of Trumpets also known as Rosh Hashanah, starts tonight. Rosh Hashanah means "head of the year," because tonight is like new year's eve on the Jewish calendar. The typical tradition is to eat apples with honey to symbolize a sweet new year.

This feast is a reminder for us to put off our old ways and embrace a new life of faith, connected to God. Trumpets is a wake up call to put into consistent practice the things we know to do, and one of those things is consistent praise and thanksgiving in the face of obstacles and pressure.  

Down below is some additional training and calendar dates for this season of the year. 

• 10 Days of Awe - Eve of Sept 6 - Eve of Sept 16th
• Sept 15th - Sept 16th - Day of Atonement
• Download the Guide for these important dates on God's Calendar

I am praying for you.

Daniel 

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Jesus said that whoever believes in him would have rivers of living water flow out them.

The other day we took our kids on a hike that had a small stream at the end. As we were looking at the stream, some spots were still while others were moving faster with small rapids. The areas with the accelerated flow usually had larger rocks or logs in the water. There were obstacles blocking the flow of the river, but this only served to accelerate the flow. Water is adaptable and if there is a way through it will find it. Since the rocks were blocking the flow of water it must flow through a constrained opening, which makes the water accelerate because of the increased pressure. Think of putting your finger on the end of a garden hose, it is the same principle. Obstacles and pressure only serve to accelerate the water. 

As we take communion today let it be a reminder that God has a way through the obstacles and pressures of life that can make us accelerate. Our role...

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Short and simple today!

God gives us grace and treats us better than we deserve. When someone treats us better than deserved it puts us into a position of thankfulness and humility because we didn't earn it. The same goes for our relationships with other people. In all relationships make it a goal to be gracious and treat people better than they deserve. Stop looking at what you are expecting from others and turn the tables by looking at how you can be gracious to them.

I am praying for you. 

Daniel

P.S. There are several important dates on God's Calendar coming soon. 

• Sept 6th -Feast of Trumpets
• 10 Days of Awe - Eve of Sept 6 - Eve of Sept 16th
• Sept 15th - Sept 16th - Day of Atonement
• Download the Guide for these important dates on God's Calendar

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The stories of Samson(Judges 13) and John the Baptist(Luke 1) are very similar. In both instances their parents were unable to have children and an angel appeared to their parents stating they were going to have a child. The boys were both to be Nazirites, which meant drinking no wine or fermented drinks and not cutting their hair, because they were separated unto God. However, there is a big difference in the way their fathers responded when God's angel appeared to them. 

When the angel appeared to Samson's father he asked... “Pardon your servant, Lord. I beg you to let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.” God heard his prayer and responded by sending the angel back. Then Samson's father asked... “When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule that governs the boy’s life and work?” These are great questions to ask God about our children, but also...

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Psalm 127 is a short Psalm but it has some great promises. Here are some things to think about as you read this Psalm...

• Jesus said it was the father in him that did the work, and on his own he could do nothing. 
• Seek first the kingdom of God and all of the things will be added to you. 
• Proverbs 10:22 The blessing of the Lord makes rich and he adds no painful toil. 
• We are God's children and he shoots us like arrows into the hearts of the people he has called us to. But, this means a time of waiting in the quiver, a time of getting stretched back away from the target ( it looks like you are going the wrong direction), and finally a quick acceleration to the target. 

Psalm 127

1 Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. 

2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves.

3 Children...

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The Feast of Trumpets is coming up on the evening of Sept 6th. The trumpet in the Old Testament was used for signaling. It called the people to assemble, told them when to move, and when to stop. The New Testament tells us that at the blast of the trumpet the dead in Christ will rise. Trumpets is a reminder that we have been called to live a new life connected to God, and part of this new way of living is learning to make unwavering decisions. This is something I had to learn because I used to waver on many of my decisions. This requires being single minded, diligent in your decision making, and then following through. Here are some verses to meditate on about what we promise/decide and fulfilling our word. 

Nor should you swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. 37 Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ Anything more comes from the evil one. Matthew 5:36-37

God is not...