Good Morning!
Let’s focus our day by spending some time with Jesus before it begins.
If you’re new to the Daily Focus, read this first, & use as much or little as you’d like.

GET FOCUSED | Start by simply thanking God for who He is & what He’s done.
+ Practice gratitude while singing/playing some worship music from Paradox on Spotify.
+ Spend a few moments meditating on today’s Old Testament Scripture: 1 Chronicles 13:1-14:7
+ From your reading, finish the sentence “God, you are ___.”
Take time to thank & worship God for the ways you’ve seen Him be/do that in your life.

MORNING PRAYER FOCUS | Prayer involves both talking and listening to God.
+ Pray the Lord’s Prayer, or slow down to pray it using this Lord’s Prayer guide.
+ Use “Lectio Divina” to listen to God in this morning’s Psalm: Psalm 10:1-11
Reading 1 = Focus. What is one word or phrase that Holy Spirit puts on your heart?
Reading 2 = Feelings. Focus on that word or phrase while you read. What do you feel? What specific situation in your life today relates? Reflect and talk with God about it.
Reading 3 = Invitation. What is God’s personal invitation to you from the Scripture?
Take time to journal anything you feel the Lord might be saying to you.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE FOCUS | Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you into all truth.
Today’s New Testament reading is from Acts 13:8-20
Highlight verses that capture your attention, and ask three simple questions as you read…
Observe. Pay attention to what the text says. Ask who, what, when, where, & why.
Interpret. What’s the main point or meaning? What does it teach about God? Yourself?
Apply. Apply this truth to your own life. What can you put into practice today?

A THOUGHT FROM TODAY’S READING…
Today’s readings can be tough to understand. In our NT reading we see a confrontation between Paul and a false prophet in which “filled with the Holy Spirit” Paul temporarily blinds his adversary. In the OT reading it’s even more egregious as a man touched the ark of the covenant (fancy box that contained the 10 commandments tablets) and God “struck him dead”.  Wait a minute…I thought God was good and loving? How can he help Paul blind a man? Didn’t Jesus restore sight to blind people?  And how could a patient and merciful God allow his “anger to burn” against a man to the point of striking him dead for a seemingly minor infraction?  What gives???
Two things to remember as we sort this out…
1) Losing one’s sight, or even physical life itself, is not of consequence when compared to one’s eternity. We see throughout scripture that God is “not wanting any to perish, but all to come to eternal life.” The reality is that not all will. We do not know all the circumstances surrounding these incidents. It is possible that God did indeed spare the souls of these men, and that they are now glad that God allowed their lives to be a cautionary tale for others about proper fear of the Lord. It is also very possible that these men had hardened hearts, and the God being outside time, knew that redemption would not be coming accepted by them at any point in their lives, and that he would use that tragedy to help others.
2) God, and God alone, is holy. He is the alpha and omega. He is the all powerful being who created all we know. As such, he is above challenge. This can be hard for us to accept, but God can do whatever he wants, even strike someone dead for disobeying a command. The good news, is that we see time and time again how God uses his power to bring life and relationship to all those who call on his name. He himself, Jesus, died for our sins so that the ending of our story wouldn’t be “struck dead” by God’s anger. As tough as it is for us to understand from our limited vantage point, the events of today’s lessons are no less GOOD then any story of healing we read about in other passages. - Mike Nank

EVENING PRAYER FOCUS | Re-Focus on Jesus by returning to prayer each evening.
Replay = Replay your day. What made you happy, joyful, anxious, or burdened?
Rejoice = Give thanks to God for the small and the significant things from the day.
Repent = Ask God for forgiveness where you need. Receive His forgiveness afresh.
Refocus = Ask to see God’s presence more clearly & walk w/ Him more closely tomorrow.
+ Practice hearing from God by asking questions like, “Father, what do you want me to know about you?” or “Father, what do you want to say about your love for me?” Simply be still and listen, or journal anything that comes to mind. Learn more about hearing from God using the Tending Your Heart guide.

SHARE THE FOCUS |
+ Pray a Ripple Prayer or use Nations Prayer to pray for the nations & those serving them.
+ Text someone an encouragement, or share a thought/question with us in the Forum.
+ Invite someone to read the Focus with you. Text “FOCUS” to (586) 200-6277.
+ Who can you share what you’re learning with today personally?

That’s all for today.
Stay focused on Jesus, and make it a great one!