NCC Daily

There's nothing the enemy hates more than our worship. Why? It’s a reminder of who he was. He led worship before his fall. When we worship, he wants to get away from it as far as he can! And when we worship, it reminds us of who God is. When we declare His goodness, His faithfulness, His power, His love, His grace, His peace, His joy. It’s praising God before it happens. And it’s one way we wage spiritual warfare.

God wants you to get where God wants you to go more than you want to get where God wants you to go, and He’s really good at getting you there. All we need to do is fly the kite. Plant that seed of faith, then trust God. Trust God’s will. Trust God’s timing. Trust God’s hand. Trust God’s heart.

The challenge yesterday was make the bed. Well begun is half done! How you start your day sets the tone, sets the pace, sets the table. We switch gears on Day 17, and shift our focus to habit #4, fly the kite. We are so easily overwhelmed by the size and scope of our goals. Go ahead and dream big, but you have to start small. That’s the challenge on Day 17.

How you start the day sets the tone, sets the pace, and sets the table. Some days are a disaster. Right? Your alarm doesn’t go off. The kids are crying. Your dog leaves a little housewarming gift right next to your bed. That is when and where and why we need to make the bed, and I mean that metaphorically. There are different kinds of habits, micro and macro. The most important habits are high leverage habits. They are the gift that keeps on giving.

In the gospels, Jesus walks by a barren fig tree and he curses it. Why? It wasn’t producing any fruit. All it was doing was taking up space. All of the other miracles are life giving. This one is in a category by itself. All of us have barren fig trees in our lives? There are things that are not producing the kind of fruit we want. You’ve got to curse the barren fig tree.

If you want God to do the super, you have to do the natural. This is where we roll up our sleeves and go to work. You’ve got to pray like it depends on God, but you also have to work like it depends on you.

Long before you woke up this morning, long after you go to sleep tonight, the Holy Spirit is contending for you with groanings that can’t even be put into words. Right now, Jesus is at the right hand of the Father contending on your behalf. Two-thirds of the Trinity are contending to the third member of the Trinity for you. That’s where our holy confidence comes from! God’s got this. God’s got you. We have far more power, far more authority, than we realize.

I’m not sure what challenges you face, what waves you need to kiss, but there comes a moment when we need to stand up and speak peace. Speak peace to your marriage. Speak peace to your children. Speak peace in your workplace. Speak peace to the racial tension and political polarization. So, the challenge on day 12? Stay calm and carry on!

A thermostat doesn’t reflect temperature, it changes it. Sometimes it cools things down. Sometimes it heats things up. Either way, we are called to shift the atmosphere. How? By operating in the opposite spirit.

We’re talking about habit #2, kiss the wave. The obstacle is not the enemy. The obstacle is the way! Yesterday, the challenge was submit to by learning from the challenges you face. Sometimes God delivers us from. More often than not, God delivers us through. And it’s who we become in the process that’s most important.