Good Morning!
Let’s focus our day by spending some time with Jesus before it begins.
Play or sing some worship music you love, or use a playlist from Paradox on Spotify.
If you’re new to the Daily Focus, read this first.
WEEKLY 40 FOR 40 FOCUS | Life-on-Life Discipleship (2 Timothy 2:2)
Over the 40 Days of Lent, add 40 minutes of prayer to your week - either 1x/week or 7 minutes/day.
This week, pray that we would faithfully be & make disciples of Jesus. We’re praying for 40+ Discipling Relationships at Paradox in 2024
Ask, Who can I ask to disciple me in this season? Who can I invite into a discipling relationship?
DAILY PRAYER FOCUS | Use the PRAY acronym each morning.
P = Pause. As you start your time of prayer, begin by pausing and being still before the Lord.
R = Read. Read the Scripture Focus slowly and focus on words/phrases the Holy Spirit highlights as you read.
A = Ask. Ask God to come and speak to you. Open up your heart to Him as your heavenly Father.
Y = Yield. We want to yield our lives to the words we have prayed and commit to follow Jesus’s way.
Begin your prayer with “Father, I remember your faithfulness to…” and respond with, “Give me faith to…”
SCRIPTURE FOCUS | Today’s reading is from Deuteronomy 14-15
Highlight verses that capture your attention, and ask three simple questions as you read…
S = Say. What is the main point? What does it teach about God (Jesus) & yourself?
O = Obey. What can you apply (practice) from this passage today?
S = Share. Who can you share what you’re learning with today?
A THOUGHT FROM TODAY’S READING…
God chose the Israelites to be his people - recipients of His love, His treasured possession. Because they were his chosen, God held the Israelites as holy in his eyes. “Holy” is a way of saying set apart, or altogether different. But this relationship of closeness was not simply for our own blessing - the privilege of being held as holy in God’s eyes comes with responsibility on our part to reflect God’s goodness, love and holiness to the world through our own through Jesus. We are called to live our lives for the Lord by “separating ourselves” from non-believers. We separate ourselves not physically, socially, or relationally, but in how we conduct ourselves personally and how we interact with others. Jesus’ perfect obedience to God forgives our sin (unholiness) and makes it possible for us to live lives of obedience and holiness. In Deuteronomy 14 & 15, Moses lays out some of the ways God’s chosen, holy people should live markedly different, separate, “holy” lives for our good and His glory.
This chosen holiness had implications for every area of life. From our diet to personal finances, systems of justice and personal responsibility to others. For example, God identifies meats that should be considered unclean. This diet served to separate God’s chosen from surrounding nations, and likely had some health and safety benefits as well. These dietary restrictions served their purpose and were necessary for a time, before they were removed in the New Testament. God also calls His people to tithe - which means to give the first tenth of what you make back to Him. Tithing helps to teach us to put God first in our lives. Deuteronomy 15 speaks about laws regarding the poor. In the time of Moses these laws created a system where no one had to be chronically poor. God also speaks to us about being generous to the poor. Jesus said the two greatest commandments are “ Love God and Love your neighbor.” Sometimes our neighbors are in need and our obedience to being God’s chosen calls us to help them out - who knows, your obedience may just be the reason someone else receive a new identity and way of life as God’s chosen too! So today, ask yourself, “How am I doing in obedience? How am I putting God first in my life?” God loves you and so do I - Scott Rose
REMEMBERING PRACTICE | (Optional) Practice remembering with a Daily Examen each evening.
The Examen prayer was made popular by Ignatius of Loyola (1491 – 1556). It has helped Christians for centuries to re-center themselves on Jesus as they come to the end of long days. We are using a variation creat-ed by Pete Greig from his book, How to Pray, to help us remember Jesus at the close of our days.
Replay = Replay your day. What made you happy or joyful? What made you 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.
Reboot = Commit to walk with Jesus tomorrow. Ask for grace to see His presence more clearly.
*For help or an audio prayer version, use the Lectio 365 app.
SHARE THE FOCUS | 1-5 Minutes
1. Text someone a prayer/encouragement, or share a thought/question with us in the Forum.
2. Invite someone to read the Focus with you. Text “FOCUS” to (586) 200-6277.
That’s all for today.
Stay focused on Jesus, and make it a great one!
