Includes...
Lately I have been thinking about the concept of unbelief and doubt vs belief and confidence.
I think of unbelief or belief as the conclusion we have come to in our heart. Sometimes we are indecisive about what we believe, and as long as we are indecisive nothing happens. But when we make a decision to either believe or disbelieve, things start happening really fast. God gives us the choice as to whether we will believe his promises or not. And we could be undecided, which is also not good.
One of our first steps is to examine God's promises and decide whether they are really true or not. This is something I learned from Billy Graham. There is a story told at the Billy Graham Museum about a time when Billy was undecided about whether some of the promises in the Bible are really true, because people were trying to talk him out of believing that they were true. But he took his Bible out in the backyard, put in on a tree stump, and decided that...
One of the names of God is El Shaddai, which means all sufficient one, or the God who is more than enough.
Recently we had some boards on our deck that needed to be replaced. When I went to Home Depot to buy replacement boards there were composite decking boards right above the wood, that matched the color of our deck exactly. As I was looking at the composite decking I felt like God was nudging me to redo our whole deck with composite, even though it would be more money.
So I called a friend who does decking and asked him for a quote to redo our whole deck with composite decking and the quote was just under $4,000. I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend that much money at the time, but it seemed like the best thing to do for our house.
Over the last several months I have been helping manage properties for other people and whenever work is needed, I usually don't do the work or pay for it. But I function in a type of trustee/manager role to see...
A scripture that is in both the Old and Testaments is that if we would see with our eyes, hear with our ears, understand with our hearts, and turn then we would see healing. The word for turn can also be translated as convert.
To convert is to transform or turn into. This month our message is understanding the times so that we know what to do. First comes understanding but, then we must convert that understanding into knowing what to do.
Conversion is an important part of our walk with God, but also really important in many other areas of life as well. For example, good ideas must be converted into action, money that comes in must be converted into things that put money to work, and in business leads must be converted into clients and customers.
In today's communion we are asking God to be great converters of the understanding that he gives us into knowing what to do, and great converters in every area of life.
Today's Health and Fitness Tip
...
The other day I was watching my daughter's youth soccer game and noticed that every time the ball would start coming to one of the girls they would stop running, and then the ball would go past them. Whenever someone would pass the ball to them, there was the tendency to hesitate and stop. But since the ball was moving, when they stopped, the ball would go right past them and usually to their opponent.
They haven't learned yet how to receive the ball in stride where they never break their momentum.
In a similar way I think God always tries to send things our way in stride, where it is seamless, and we keep moving without any breaks in the action. Recently I have seen a few people have some good opportunities come their way, but they hesitated, and the opportunities were missed. In some cases, I think we hesitate because we doubt or are unsure, but in other cases I noticed people hesitated because of greed and trying to make the situation even better...
Today is the 8th Day of the Feast of Tabernacles, which is a time to rejoice in the harvest and remember Jesus wants to give us rest in our soul. The 8th Day is like a new beginning, and it was referred to as the great day. Yesterday was the final day of the yearly cycle and it starts new today.
As we are reminded of a new beginning and a fresh start today it's a good time to ask God for his ancient paths.
In Jeremiah 6:16 is says, "This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls."
In today's communion we are asking God for the ancient paths and to walk in the good way, so that we find rest for our souls.
Today's Health and Fitness Tip
In the time we are living in health and fitness has become very complicated and even stressful. This is also a good time to ask God for the ancient paths and the good way for our health and...
Today is Day 7 of the 7 Day Feast of Tabernacles, which is a time to rejoice in the harvest and remember Jesus wants to give us rest in our soul. Tomorrow is the 8th Day, which is like a new beginning, and it was referred to as the great day.
James 3:9-12 says...
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come blessing(praise) and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
In today's communion we are asking God to forgive us of any times when we have cursed other people, who were made in his image. And we are asking us to help us walk in praise and blessing consistently from this point on.
Today's Health and Fitness Tip
The yearly cycle is...
Today is Day 6 of the 7 Day Feast of Tabernacles, which is like a fall harvest festival, and it's a time to rejoice in the harvest. Tabernacles is a reminder of the Sabbath, and that Jesus wants to give us rest in our soul.
In Matthew 11:28 Jesus said that if we come to him he would give us rest. One of the biggest areas we must learn to rest in, is in our soul. The opposite of resting in our soul is toiling, worrying, trying to figure things out, and being frantic and out of control.
Something I have observed is that when I am toiling, frantic, or even rushing it steals time and actually makes me less productive. It's counterintuitive but resting in our soul allows us to be more efficient and productive while enjoying the process much more.
Today's communion is a time of gratitude for rest in our soul. And we are asking God to help us receive his rest and live in his rest continually.
Today's Health and Fitness Tip
One of the ways...
Here is this week's Yearly Cycle Update.
We are still in the 7 Days of the Feast of Tabernacles, which is a time to remember that God is tabernacling with us. Monday 10/17 is what is called the 8th Day, also known as the last great day. In John 7:37-38 it says "Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He who believes in Me [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Me], as the Scripture has said, ‘From his innermost being will flow continually rivers of living water.’”
The 8th Day is like a new beginning. The yearly cycle has come to a close and is starting over. It is a reminder of God's grace gives us a fresh start in life. As we cross through this day be prepared because new beginnings mean open doors to new opportunities.
Here is this week's filter(reminder) to write at the top of our journals each day... New beginnings.
I am praying for...
Today is Day 5 of the 7 Day Feast of Tabernacles, which is like a fall harvest festival, and it's a time to rejoice in the harvest. Tabernacles is a reminder that God is living within us, and he fills all in all.
This month we have been focusing on understanding the times so that we know what is best to do. Part of understanding the times, is understanding that the world is constantly changing. I believe God built constant change into the world so that it keeps nudging us to grow, expand, and become who he made us to be.
In today's communion we are asking God to help us be people who handle change in a beautiful, graceful way by relying on God tabernacling with us. We access grace by faith, and I always think of faith as making us adaptable to change.
Today's Health and Fitness Tip
In our health and fitness we must also be adaptable to change. There will be times when we don't have access to our normal meals or workout equipment. In those...
Today is Day 4 of the 7 Day Feast of Tabernacles, which is like a fall harvest festival, and it's a time to rejoice in the harvest. Tabernacles is a reminder that God is living within us, and he fills all in all.
This month our focus has been on understanding the times, so we know what to do. Think about how much the world has changed over the last 100 years. The way we live, travel, communicate, do business, and so much more has greatly changed. Part of living a life of faith is how we respond to and handle change. The world is going to continue to change, and God can help us stay ahead of the rate of change, by understanding what is happening, and knowing what to do.
In today's communion we are asking God to help us keep up with and stay ahead of changing times.
Today's Health and Fitness Tip
Part of exercise is balancing consistency and variety. We need to be both highly consistent but also include some variety to keep things fresh. Little...
Sign up to receive Yearly Cycle Updates delivered to your inbox.