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It is faith that pleases God but sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference between faith and presumption. When I think of presumption I think of making judgments or jumping to conclusions before truly knowing. 

When we are in faith we are resting in God's promises but presumption wants to test out the promises to see if they are true. When Jesus was in the wilderness he was tempted by Satan and one of the tests was to throw himself down from the pinnacle of the temple to see if God would save him. Satan quoted scripture to Jesus to try get him out of faith and into testing God's promises. But, Jesus didn't need to test the promise to know if it was true. For him, it was written so it was true. 

This is where it is important to do what you "know,' to do and take the ways that are firm. When God directs our path all of the ways will be firm. You have an anointing and unction from God that teaches you all things and when God wants you to do something there wil...

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Last night I was telling my kids about a friend of mine who is a very high level drummer. He has been asked to play the drums at concerts by some famous musicians. He once told me that the times he feels most connected to God are when he is worshipping God by playing the drums. He said it is like his whole spirit, mind, emotions, and physical body are united as one in worshipping God. Communion gives us a similar opportunity. We can take the spiritual principles of what Jesus has done, stir them into our minds and imagination, and combine it with something physical that we actually do. Communion has the power to unite our entire spirit, soul, and body. 

My friend also told me that when he was learning to play drums he had a teacher who constantly made him practice the fundamentals. My friend wanted to move on faster to fancier things but his teacher insisted he continue to practice the fundamentals. My friend said that looking back now it was the best thing he cou...

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Here is todays communion meditation.

In Psalm 143:8-12 David says...

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. Rescue me from my enemies, Lord, for I hide myself in you. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. For your name’s sake, Lord, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble. In your unfailing love, silence my enemies; destroy all my foes, for I am your servant.

God is love and love never fails. Putting our hope and trust in his unfailing love is the most secure place there is. Love always protects. He will never let us down. This also reminds me that if we will stay tuned into God he will teach us the right things to be doing and show us the path to take. Each day we are faced with decisions about which way to go and God has given us peace on the inside to guide our decision maki...

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Here is today's communion meditation.

We have a cherry tree in our backyard and last week the cherries started to come in. It was a reminder that fruit doesn't last very long but Jesus said in John 15 that if we remain in him we will produce fruit that lasts. The cherries only come in for 1-2 weeks and then they are gone for the year. 

Earlier this week I went out with one of my daughters and we picked a big bucket full of cherries. We ate some of them and then our plan was to freeze some of them while making jam with the rest. But, we got busy and I forget about them. Within about 2 days they started to rot and were looking very fuzzy. Unfortunately we had to throw them out. Fruit in this world does not last very long, but by remaining in the love of Jesus our lives can produce fruit that lasts.

Often in life we get caught up doing a bunch of things that ultimately don't matter that much and don't last but remaining in the love of God helps our lives produce...

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Here is today's communion meditation. 

Yesterday I was reading in Matthew 21 about the parable of the tenants. In the story Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who had a vineyard that he rented out but they tenants were evil and when he sent his servants and son to get his share of the crops they beat the servants and killed his son. This parable reminded me of a passage in my book Pockets of Prosperity. 

Here is the passage. 

At one point in time in my family’s house, we had a basement apartment that we rented to tenants. We owned the house, but people rented from us. There was a door that connected the main area to the basement and usually, with most tenants, we kept the door locked and bolted shut. While we owned the basement, we never went down there unless we had permission from the tenant or unless something was wrong that required us to go downstairs. At the same time, the tenants normally didn’t come into our upstairs space unless w...

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Here is this week's yearly cycle update. 

We are entering into the summer which is a reminder that we are supposed to be taking action. In Matthew 20 is the story of the landowner who goes out to hire workers for the day. The landowner (Jesus in this story) goes into the marketplace and sees people who are just standing around and he asks them, "Why are you standing around doing nothing?" He then sends them into his field to work. There were three different waves of workers that went to work in the field that day. The first group were hard workers but they had a low level of faith and trust in the landowner because they would only work for an agreed upon price. The second wave of workers was lazier but they had more trust in the landowners generosity because they agreed to work for whatever the landowner thought was right. The last group was standing around all day but they had a high level of trust in the landowner. The landowner made them no promise. He simply s...

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Here is today's communion meditation.

Psalm 48:9 says "Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love."

We are God's temple now and one of the most important things to meditate on is his steadfast unfailing love. To meditate means to ponder, imagine, think about, mutter, recite, and rehearse. One of my favorite ways to meditate is to go for a walk with God and meditate on his unfailing love. Think about this for a moment...Love never fails. While walking I may say scriptures such as God so loved the world that he sent Jesus and if he gave us Jesus how will he not freely give us all things. His love has been shed abroad in our hearts and love never fails.

In Psalm 49:3 it says "My mouth will speak words of wisdom; the meditation of my heart will give understanding. It is meditating on God's unfailing love that leads to us having understanding. What is it we are supposed to understand?

When I wrote my book The 8th Date it all started with a verse f...

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Here is today's communion meditation. 

Marriage and money issues are often related because both marriage and money are about partnership and covenant. 

If you have been believing God for a turning in your marriage and in your money or you just want to take these two areas to the next level then today's communion meditation is meant to change the trajectory of these two areas. 

Both marriage and finances are about understanding covenant and partnership. In fact a husband and wife in agreement and partnership together is one of the most powerful forces in the world. 

If you have been experiencing issues in these two areas simultaneously or just want to go to the next level then here is what we are going to do...take your hand off of it and trust the God of all grace to create the change.

In today's video we take a look at Genesis 14 and 15 where Abraham says that no man will make him rich and right after that God speaks to him and promises to be his shield and v...

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Here is today's communion meditation.

We have been anointed by a great king. To be anointed means that we have been set apart and consecrated for a special purpose. God's anointing is his equipping and empowering for us to function in his strength. I like to think of the anointing like holy sunscreen. It lets us stand and function in God's presence and without getting burned up because he is an all consuming fire. 

In others cultures around the world people will smear olive oil, coconut oil, or some other fat on their skin to protect them from the sun. In the Old Testament kings and priests were anointed for their role with olive oil. I once had a scientist in my gym who was studying the effects of blue light and the impact of being in the sun and I asked her to test olive oil for me. After her tests she confirmed that olive oil blocked the harmful effects of the sun better than anything she had tested. 

In Christ God has anointed us to use his power, gifts, and...

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Sometimes in life we can get discouraged because we feel like we aren't making progress fast enough or we are under pressure or we feel like we let God down. If that is the case for you I feel like God is saying to look back at how far you've come. This is a way to encourage ourselves in the Lord

In my book 7 Dates With Jesus I tell the story of a time several years ago when I was under pressure and God had been teaching me the importance of being steadfast and consistent with my words and actions even when under pressure. But one morning my cat kept running right underneath my feet while I was cooking breakfast and finally I snapped at the cat and my wife gave me one of those funny looks like "What's wrong with you?" Sometimes when we are under pressure it just takes something little to push us over the edge. Later that morning I was driving over to a Bible study and praying because I felt like I had let God down. But, in the middle of the Bible study the pastor ...