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 12
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…
”Be careful”. These are the first two words from today’s scripture. Upon reading them I instantly felt ill-equipped to provide today’s thought, as I have always been a bit of a risk taker. However, Moses is not warning the people of Israel to avoid harm, but rather calling them to be intentional. God knows that if the people don’t “destroy completely” the places and methods of worshipping other gods, they will be tempted in their weakness to conform to the ways of the people around them. God’s ways, while not necessarily easier for the Israelite people, were better and led to life. The same is true for us today. The world would tell us that the fix to our problems can be found amongst the gods of business, distraction, apathy, striving, denial, and self medication. But God knows these things don’t bring life, they only mask the problems or make them worse. Only when we destroy these false gods completely and give our struggles over to God can we truly find freedom and real help through the trials we face. He has a “resting place” and an “inheritance” for us when we bring our first fruits to him and walk carefully/intentionally/obediently in his commands.
- Mike Nank

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!