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WEEK 2
DAILY READINGS
(download PDF here - right click and select "Save Target As")
Day 8 - Monday, January 18: God Bless You
And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God: Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks…The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. The LORD will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you (Deuteronomy 28:2-4, 7,8)
Thought for the Day: I recently received a card in which the sender wrote this scripture as a blessing upon my life. It made me think - how many times do we bless people? Do we only do it at birthdays or at Christmas? We say, “God bless you”, when someone sneezes. However, when is the last time you can remember deliberately writing, or calling or emailing someone a blessing or even giving someone a gift or a card just because you wanted to “bless them”. The word blessing means that good favor is being presented to another, whether expressed in the giving of a tangible gift or in the pronouncing of a verbal blessing. So I bless you this day:
May the blessings of the Lord overtake you in 2010 and in this new decade. May the Lord bless you where you reside. May the Lord’s blessing rest upon your family and upon your physical, emotional and spiritual well being. May the Lord cause all the enemies that rise up against you to be defeated in 2010. May the Lord command His blessing upon all of your resources. May the Lord bless everything that you set your hands to do in 2010.
Day 9 – Tuesday, January 19: To obey or not to obey
And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God… (Deuteronomy 28:2.)
Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams (1 Samuel 15:22).
Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you (Hebrews 13:17).
Thought for the Day: “Obey” is like a four letter word – which you should not say. Nowadays, people cringe when they hear that they must or should obey this person or this rule. When I was a child it was instilled in me that you should obey and respect those in authority, i.e. teachers, your elders, police officers, clergy, etc… However, because some people have misused their position of power to abuse or violate others we want to totally eradicate the need to “obey”. It has even carried over to people of faith where we feel that we do not have to obey God or the leaders over us. Yet, we want and even expect children to obey us. Do you cringe when you hear the word “obey”? Are you quick to obey God when He directs you to do something? Lord help us to obey you quickly.
Day 10 – Wednesday, January 20: See-n-Spring
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland (Isaiah 43:19 New International Version [NIV]).
Thought for the Day: Do you remember the educational toy “See-n-Say”? The See-n-Say made sounds when a pointer was aimed at pictures on its dial. For example, when pointed at an image of a duck, the phrase "This is a duck...quack, quack, quack" was heard. (Come on somebody has to remember that?!) This is a season of the See-n-Spring! God is going to do new things but we are going to have to see it. He will give the directives that will open up the way for us to see the new thing that He is doing in our lives, in our relationships, in our churches, etc… After we see it we have to spring. Spring is defined as to move forward suddenly in a single movement or in a series of rapid movements. The new thing will happen! You cannot simply stand in awe of it but rather, you must take action based on what you see and SPRING. Therefore, we have to be agile– ready to move so that we can reap the benefits of the new thing that God is doing.
Day 11 – Thursday, January 21: Yard Sale
Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us. Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]… (Hebrews 12:1, 2- Amplified Version).
Thought for the Day: It is time to have a yard sale – where you get rid of all your old junk that is taking up space or cluttering your mind. We need to recognize that clutter is not necessarily sinful, but it is unnecessary things that we do not need anymore nor are they helpful for where God is taking us. As we enter the half-way mark of this 21 day fast I just want to encourage you to be aware of distractions that will try to take you from being focused on God. We must filter out what is a weapon of mass distraction for us. Leadership Guru Samuel Chand lists three signs of being distracted:
1. Being diverted – when nonessential things occupy our time and thoughts or when resources are used for things that aren’t necessary, we have lost our focus.
2. Getting attacked – resistance and overt attacks can remove our focus from the main issues.
3. Getting seduced – when pleasing our allies becomes more important than staying on a difficult course, we are definitely distracted.
What has been distracting you? It is time to de-clutter.
Day 12 – Friday, January 22: Rest not Stress
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6,7).
If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, and God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met (Matthew 6:30-33 [The Message Bible]).
Thought for the Day: Rest in God today. He has it under control. Allow the Holy Spirit to saturate your heart and mind with God’s peace. God wants us to know how to rest in Him. When a situation arises that is about to make you want to lose it or stress out – stop, take a moment and say “Rest not Stress”. It works but it is not easy.
Day 13 – Saturday, January 23: Make some Music
It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High (Psalm 92:1[NIV]).
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord (Ephesians 5:19)
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones (Proverbs 17:22).
Thought for the Day: Those who know me know that I love music. Well who doesn’t like music? Music is the one thing that can bring all different types of people from all walks of life together. We take the power of and in music for granted. So today, take some time to listen to some good music. Music that makes you want to clap your hands, stomp your feet and give praise to Almighty God. Watch and see what it does to your countenance and to your environment.
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