Good Morning!
Let’s focus our day by spending some time with Jesus before it begins.
Pick a song from one of our Spotify Playlists & let it play in the background.
FOCUS. Breathe in & out slowly. Pray, Jesus, you gave yourself for me. I give myself to you.
THANK. Write down or say out loud 3-5 things you’re thankful for from the last 24 hours.
WORSHIP. Read Jeremiah 17:9-10. Focus on one truth about who God is & thank Him for it.
PRAY. Pray the Lord’s Prayer, a Ripple Prayer, or find more at paradoxchurch.com/pray.
READ. Today’s reading is from Mark 7 & Psalm 51:7-10
ASK. After reading, ask the following SOS Questions & journal your thoughts.
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?
THINK. A Thought from Pastor Dave
Gwyn and I sometimes disagree on the meaning of the word “clean.” I tend to clean up anything I see that is out of place - what Gwyn calls “tidying.” Gwyn is more concerned with cleaning the stuff you can’t see - you know… germs, bacteria, etc. The stuff that can get inside of you and make you sick or worse. In today’s reading, it seems Jesus leans more on Gwyn’s side (as usual!) The religious leaders are upset that Jesus’ followers aren’t following their elaborate hand washing rules. Their concern was that the sin-tainted “stuff” of the outside world and other non-holy people would get inside of them if they didn’t. So, they looked the part. Went out of their way to “clean” up their appearance. Jesus says that they should be more concerned about what is already inside. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Today, pay attention to your heart. Ask Jesus to show you what’s on the inside, the stuff that’s harder to see. Is there anything that needs His cleaning? Just for fun, let hand washing be a prompt that reminds you to spend that time talking with God about the inside too. You could try praying something like, “Jesus, as I wash my hands of what can be seen, would your Holy Spirit show me what can’t be? Would you wash my heart and make me clean again? Amen.”
TALK. That was our take - what’s yours? Share thoughts & ask questions in the forum.
SHARE. Stay focused with a friend! Invite them to text “FOCUS” to (586) 200-6277.

Stay focused on Jesus today, and make it a great one!