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Isaiah 9:7 says that of the increase of His(Jesus) government and of peace there will be no end. I believe God likes us to continually expand. In July God often begins to expand our vision and show us a bigger glimpse of where he is leading us. He has given us purpose and grace in Christ Jesus before time began but if he showed it all to us at once it would be overwhelming. He knows the perfect time to unfold things for us.
Don't be surprise if a bigger vision starts to come in the upcoming weeks. When the vision comes make sure to say YES, because there will be the temptation to let all the reasons why it won't work creep into your mind. When God showed Moses that he was to lead the people out of Egypt, Moses thought God should find someone else because he wasn't an eloquent speaker. But, if you look back at the life of Moses God had set him apart from birth. God told Moses, I made your mouth. I will help you speak and teach you what to say. The same thing happe...
Here is today's communion meditation.
Our message for July is Favor, Patterns, & Relationships. Communion is a time to examine ourselves, and in today's communion we are going to be working on our own patterns. We all have patterns in how we relate to people and these patterns are very important. Colossians 4:6 says to let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. In today's communion we are asking God to help us with the tone in which we speak, especially to the people closest to us in our family.
Something I have found to be true is we often use a tone with the people closest to us that we would never use with others. Our goal is to always have our conversations be full of grace, especially with those closest to us. Notice that when our speech is full of grace we know HOW to answer everyone. In conversations there is WHAT is said and HOW it was said. The HOW is usually more important than the WH...
Here is the monthly message for July.
In July God often begins to expand our vision and show us a bigger glimpse for our live. July is also a reminder that we have favor with God. But, it's important to remember that we can grow in favor. Luke 2:52 says that Jesus grew in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man.
How do we grow in favor with God and man? Patterns and relationships are two big keys. Recently I have been working with my kids on math and something we have been reinforcing over and over is that math is simply understanding patterns and relationships. When we understand the repetitive patterns and relationships with numbers math becomes much easier.
In a similar way growing in favor with God and people has much to do with pattern recognition and how we relate to both God and people. Both God and people have patterns. For example, my wife and kids know my patterns. They know my habits and routines and the times I do them. They also know what push...
New Workouts Coming Soon
Soon the Daily Communion Meditations will also include a short workout for the day.
Recently I have been doing something new in my workouts, but it takes a little understanding of the reasons behind it. Most physical training is aimed at forcing the body to change by making it do more and more work, but God has been showing me that we should be training our bodies to be more responsive to training rather than more resistant. The key to these new workouts is very simple...One 50 second set.
Everything is geared around performing well in one simple 50 second set for the day. But, in order to get to this place we do some other exercise to prepare and activate the body. All of the other work is meant to prime your body to be able to perform in the one 50 second set. Think of it like an athlete warming up to perform. Their goal is not to tire their body but to get it into a peak state. That is the goal for the day, get the body into a peak st...
The other day our communion meditation was about the side of Jesus being pierced so that God could now be by our side. When his side was pierced it brought a sudden flow of blood and water. Crucifixion can cause fluid to develop around the heart. It can even get the point where the pressure from the fluid causes the heart to burst.
When the side of Jesus was pierced the blood and water flowed out because of this build up of fluid around his heart. All through scripture there seems to be a connection to blood and water. The first miracle of Jesus was to turn water into wine. When Moses led the people out of Egypt the first plague was to turn the water of the Nile into blood. In Revelation, we see again that God turns water into blood.
The blood of Jesus in communion is a symbol of him cleansing us and making atonement for us with his blood. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. The blood is also a reminder of our covenant with God. The w...
If we break down the word communion we get the words common and union. The words community and communication are also very similar. Lately I have been thinking about the idea of oneness and becoming more unified with both God and people. I think we are supposed to live a life as one with God but then we are supposed to take God with us to the people around us and become more unified and one with them. As we grow closer with God we should also be growing closer with people, not further apart.
In John 17 before Jesus is arrested he prays a long prayer. These are some of his last words before leaving and he starts by praying for himself, then his disciples, and then for all believers. Notice the progression...He works from the inside out.
Here are some of the things he prays for...
That God would glorify him so that God is glorified.
That he might give eternal life to all those God has given him...And then he says that eternal life is to know God and himself. W...
Lately I have been thinking about how the side of Jesus was pierced. Isaiah 53 says he was pierced for our transgressions, which is another way of saying our rebellion. The piercing of the side of Jesus was a big deal to the disciples, in fact Thomas wouldn't believe the resurrection happened unless he put his hand into the side of Jesus.
While thinking about this the story of Adam and Eve came to mind. God said that it wasn't good for man to be alone so he caused Adam to fall into a great sleep and took one of the ribs and formed Eve. This word "rib," in the Hebrew is translated every other time in the Old Testament as "side." Adam and Eve were now 2 people but they were meant to function side by side in life as one.
It is not good for us to be alone in life, but the side of Jesus was pierced so we could have God by our side. He has promised to never leave or forsake us. 1 Corinthians 6:17 says that he who joins himself to the Lord has become one in spirit wit...
Imagine you are getting dressed in the morning and you start by putting on your shoes, then your socks, then your pants, and finally your underwear. It will probably take much longer to get ready, there will be some frustration, and your underwear will be over your pants. The order we do things in matters. I think a lot of the frustration we experience in life is because we try to take steps in the wrong order. When things are in order grace flows, everything is easier and takes less time, and we produce better results.
If you read through Proverbs chapter 16 and Psalm 37 a theme will emerge that if we commit our ways and plans to the Lord he will order our steps. But then it is important to trust him and wait for him to show us the proper order of our steps.
But, how are you going to know what the proper order of steps is? There are a couple of ways. The first will be an internal knowing and a sense of peace when things are in their proper position. Make sure ...
Here is today's communion meditation.
This morning I was reading in John chapters 19 and 20 and a few things stood out to me. When Jesus knew everything was completed so that the Scriptures would be fulfilled he asked for a drink of the wine vinegar. He had promised his disciples he would not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes, but when he had received the drink he said...It is finished.
After he died the soldiers were breaking the bones of the others on the cross, but in order to fulfill prophecies already written not one of the bones of Jesus was broken. Instead the soldiers pierced his side, and John 19:34 says it brought a sudden flow of blood and water. Isaiah 53:5 says that Jesus was pierced for our transgressions. Another word for transgressions is rebellion. He was pierced for all the ways we have been rebellious, but when we look on him, it is the piercing that reminds us that God can bring a sudden flow of blood and wa...
As we enter into the summer this a time when things can start to get hot, meaning there may be an increase in pressure. When you are walking by faith and following God's lead there may be the temptation to look into the future and wonder if your journey is going to be successful. It is important to remember that God is already working ahead of you to prepare the way. In Genesis 24, Abraham sends his servant to get a wife for his son Isaac. Abraham's servant then asks...What do I do if the woman is unwilling to come back with me?
And Abraham responded with, " the Lord, who brought me out of my father's house and promised me on oath will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son." Abraham new that because of his covenant with God, that God was helping him in everything he did. We also have a covenant with God, and he is working ahead of us.
In their journey to the promised land God told his people that he would send his angel ahead of them. J...
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