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: Job 21
+ 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 50:7-15
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 1 Corinth 2:3-16
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…
Have you ever had a day when you had many things at one time and didn’t know how to devote the needed time to each? So you focused on what you could then and left the rest for another time? This is where I found myself as I read all the passages today. But what did strike me was the character of God. Ohhh how He loves us!
I see God’s patience in Job as He watches the events unfold. He knows the heart of Job. He knows the benefit of this painful and sorrowful event in Job’s life and how it will encourage people for millennia later. And in the moment He knows the pain of Job, the same pain He feels when each of those He has hand knit chooses to reject Him and dies physically and eternally. He listens to the discourse back and forth between Job and his visitors. He listens patiently as they wrestle with these tragic events. In Psalm, we read that God sees the sins of Israel - “ I will testify against you, Israel: I am God, your God,” v 7. He is testifying against Israel, yet He declares Himself “your God.” He goes on to say He doesn’t need the sacrifices for Himself. He doesn’t eat them or drink the blood. He owns it all. Yet He welcomes the sacrifices for their sake, and tells them to call on Him, and He will deliver them. They are sinning and rejecting Him, and He is their God and deliverer.
Then, we read in Corinthians that His gift of the Holy Spirit is that we who are sinners and destined to eternal death were allowed to receive Jesus’s gift of salvation through faith, believing He is the Son of God and His death was the final payment for our sins. We repent of our sins and declare this to God, and we are saved for all eternity from spiritual death. BUT that isn’t all. It should be enough, but it isn’t all He provides. He gives us the Spirit to live in us. The Spirit who is God knows God to His very depth and knows us because He lives in us. Why is this significant? Through this Spirit, we KNOW God, and He knows us to our very depth, a depth we don’t even know ourselves, and He loves us still.
Just like we read in the Psalm, He could testify against each of us. Oh, how could I tell you the sins I confessed this week? He knew these sins of mine. Yet He declares Himself my God, your God. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. When we receive Jesus’s gift of salvation, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit until Jesus returns. We are His, and He is ours. He has everything. He needs nothing from us to complete Himself. Our triune God has perfect harmony and love between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He doesn’t need us. He wants us! He pursues each of us as a lover would pursue the one he loves. He hand-knit us in our mother’s womb to be in relationship with us. Friend, walk away knowing He hears you, He sees you, and He loves you. - Renee Richter
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!
