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 | Diligent Teaching (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)
Over the 40 Days of Lent, add 40 minutes of prayer to your week - either 1x/week or 7 minutes/day.
Pray for our generation. Pray that we would be a generation that loves God, holds His commands in our heart, & teaches the next generation to follow Him. Is there a step of obedience God is inviting me to take?

Note: This past weekend at Paradox, we created reminders of the choices we’re making to remember God’s faithfulness and respond in faith. If you missed it, watch the message and learn how we’re responding.

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 29
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…
Today’s reading is both a reflection on how things have gone when people have chosen not to follow and obey the Lord, and also vision for the future - of how things could be based on whether we choose to follow Him or not. On one hand, we remember the faithfulness of God, we remember what he brought the Israelites through and out of, and the miracles he has done for them. We also see how others had chosen to live- others they witnessed on their way to the promised land. I’m sure that it was hard for them to stay with what God said (& we know that they did it imperfectly) when they witnessed others going their own way. This chapter is a reminder to stay on the narrow path. Follow the Lord. Don’t go in a different direction. I think this entire chapter can be summed up with verse 9- I love how it was written in the Message translation. ”Diligently keep the words of this Covenant. Do what they say so that you will live well and wisely in every detail.“ I was intrigued by verse 19, where it talks of stubbornness in our hearts- how we can think that we are exempt from following his commands because of _____ {insert excuses we will make}. Perhaps there are ways we are following Him, but other ways we are choosing to go our own way- that is stubbornness in our heart. Let’s go before Jesus today and ask him to show us if there is a way our hearts are stubborn and ways we are choosing other gods or to go our own way. Then , instead of living in shame- turn to him! Ask him for help! Share it with someone in your life group and ask them to walk with you in this, as you seek to follow Jesus in all you do. - Gwyn Kubiak

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!