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Here is today's communion meditation.

For a while my youngest daughter was getting car sick every time we went on a trip. Recently we were driving and I found myself looking back at her every couple of minutes to check on her. It was stealing my peace because I was more focused on the problem rather than on God being with us. After praying about it one day I felt God was saying to rub olive oil behind her earlobes before going on a car trip. After hearing this we also received some confirmation from a pediatrician friend of ours who mentioned that there is an oil she has used for kids that is rubbed behind the ears. 

The other day we were preparing to take a short but curvy car trip so I rubbed the olive oil on her earlobes and it reminded me of the power of a point of contact. Often it's important to have something physical that we can release our faith into. It bridges the gap and brings God's grace and power into the physical world. The olive oil became that f...

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While writing 7 Dates With Jesus there was a day when God began to teach me about his favor. His favor surrounds us like a shield and is on us for a lifetime. While writing I felt God was prompting me to record the date and it was July 19th. Every year since then he has reminded me of his favor on July 19th, which is today. 

God has given us his favor as a free gift but just like any other gift we could choose not to receive it or just let it sit in the closet unused. God's favor is something we can grow in. Jesus grew in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man. To have favor with someone means opportunities. God can open doors and create opportunities that nobody else can. 

Here are some ways to grow in this favor God has given us. 

First it must be received by faith and one of the greatest expressions of faith is gratitude. Start thanking God for his favor regularly. Two other keys to receiving his favor are righteousness and humility. Favor comes as a gif...

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Sometimes when a verse stands out in the Bible I will look it up in several versions. One of my favorites to look at is the MSG version because it's easy to read and sometimes it gives a different way of thinking of the verse. 

Proverbs 10:10 MSG that has helped me many times. It says... An open face to face meeting results in peace. If there is ever a relationship that is lacking in peace an open face to face meeting when approached with humility always seems to clear the air. 

This morning Proverbs 10:27 also seemed to jump out as well... Fear of God expands your life; a wicked life is a puny life.

July is a reminder that God wants to expand our lives. The AMP version of this verse says... The [reverent] fear of the Lord [worshiping, obeying, serving, and trusting Him with awe-filled respect] prolongs one’s life,

Here is all of Proverbs 10 from the MSG version. For today's communion let's take a few minutes to meditate on this chapter. 

The Wise Sayings of S...

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In life we get into patterns and sometimes our patterns get us entangled in things that are hard to break free from, but Jesus came to interrupt our patterns and set us free. We are not to be conformed to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. 

Here is a excerpt from the Time Blueprint in my book Pockets of Prosperity on interrupting and untangling our patterns. 

Colossians 2:2 (MSG) says this: “I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know about God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God’s great mystery.”

Think of spacetime like a fabric that is woven together. Every action and decision we make in life gets weaved into the fabric, but sometimes it can feel like the fabric is tied up into a gigantic mess. In 1 John 3:8, we read that Jesus came to destroy or undo the works of the devil. The translations of the word “undo” have references to the words “untie”...

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Here is this week's Yearly Cycle Update

July is a reminder that God's favor surrounds you like a shield and is on you for a lifetime. While writing my book 7 Dates With Jesus I felt prompted to record the date that I learned about God's favor. The date was July 19th and every year since then on July 19th he has reminded me about his favor. We can grow and walk in higher and higher levels of favor with God and man and this time of year is a reminder of this. 

Part of God's favor is that every year he wants to expand your vision. God's vision and plan for our lives should be growing every year and one of the ways you will notice this is through your desires. God may stir a vision and good desire for something bigger. 

In Genesis 15 God expands Abraham's vision. Abraham had just returned from rescuing his nephew Lot and took a step of faith by telling a king that he would not take anything from him, because God was his source. After this step of faith God appeared ...

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Here is today's communion meditation.

The Bible has a lot to say about desires. Often desires are thought of as bad but there are both good and evil desires. For example, Jesus said he desired to do God's will. Jesus also said in Mark 11 that whatever we desire when we pray to believe we receive it the moment we pray. 

James 1:13-15 shows us the path that evil desires take but I believe that good desires can take us on the opposite of this path. Here is James 1:13-15...  When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Notice the progression here... Evil desire conceives and gives birth to sin. When sin is full grown there is a second birth to death. 

I think that good desires take the opposite p...

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Here is today's communion meditation.

Yesterday my kids were swimming in a circular above ground pool with some friends and they had the idea to create a whirlpool, so they all started running together in the same direction. Eventually it created a strong current spinning around the pool and they could float on their backs around the pool or swim easily with the current. 

But then I told them to get the whirlpool turned around and spinning in the other direction. When they tried to stop the whirlpool they attempted to run in the other direction but it looked like they were going in slow motion. The current was still trying to propel them in the other direction. After a lot of struggle they finally got the current stopped and began to turn it around. 

Sometimes in our lives through repetition we build some currents in our lives that are trying to carry us in the wrong direction and it can feel very hard and almost impossible to turn things around. But it is impor...

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Our goal in the Abundant Life Blueprint is to make other people great and when we set this intention God begins to take us on a path of making us fruitful, multiplying us into others, and increasing us greatly. But all along this path wisdom and knowledge will be needed to know which way to go and what to do.

Colossians 2:2-3 says... My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Isaiah 33:6 says that God will be a rich store of wisdom and knowledge and the fear of the Lord is the key to the treasure. The fear of the Lord is honor, reverence, and awe for the Lord. To fear the Lord is to seek to please and obey him. Hebrews 5:7-10 gives us a great picture of the fear of the Lord. Here is what it says...

During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered ...

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Our goal in the Abundant Life Blueprint is to make other people great and when we set this intention God begins to take us on a path of making us fruitful, multiplying us into others, and increasing us greatly. But all along this path wisdom and knowledge will be needed to know which way to go and what to do.

Colossians 2:2-3 says... My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

All of the wisdom and knowledge we need are hidden in Christ, and Christ is in you the hope of glory. AHA moments are available to us every day and the key is to learn to rest in our mind. When we are toiling away trying to figure everything out and working the problems from every angle in our mind nothing happens. As soon as we rest and trust that all of the answers are already...

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In today's communion meditation we are going go make a few small adjustments to the way we do the other half of prayer. In the examination of our emotions are going to examine our levels of peace and joy separately. Peace is our indicator that we are single minded that God is with us and working for our good. If you take a second to imagine God being with you and working for your good it can make a big difference. Then work on sustaining this when life throws issues at you. Joy is our indicator of living in the present moment aware of God's presence with us. Often when we lack joy it's because we are living in the past or worried about the future. It is explained in more detail in the video/audio. 

How do you respond when people wrong you? There are typical 3 ways to respond... Doing something mean back to them, giving them the silent treatment and withdrawing your presence(avoiding them), or doing good for them no matter what they do. In the Abundant Life Bluepr...