PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN ( Conviction ): Father, today I come to You with a very sorry heart and Spirit. I have not had a quiet time in several days, using my mini-vacation for my anniversary with my wife as an excuse amongst many other excuses I kept making every day. Please forgive me for my lack of obedience and consistency the last week or so, Father. Help me to get my mindset back on track as well as my schedule. Help me to start being the obedient son You’ve taught me to be so that I may glorifying You through my quiet times, Father.
PROMISE ( 1 Kings 16:1-4, 12 ): Not only did You make a promise here to Baasha, but You quickly fulfilled the promise shortly after. You promised, through the prophet Jehu, that Baasha would be completely destroyed due to their egregious and blatant sin against You. You used a more evil man, the king’s own commander, to fulfill this promise, but then also destroyed him shortly thereafter once he was done fulfilling Your promise to Baasha.
ATTITUDE ( Conviction ): Honestly, today I am simply feeling convicted quite a bit due to my lack of quiet times this week. I’m feeling convicted to get back to embracing an attitude of obedience to You by making my quiet times a priority. Please forgive me, Father, for lacking in this attitude as of late. Help guide me and mentor me to get back on track with my quiet times and the consistency of obedience You require of me in my faith journey.
COMMAND ( 1 Kings 16:13 ): Today, I see Your command being idol-based; false idols that is. Just as I said in my convictions for sin and attitude, I have put things ahead of You, making You a lower priority in my life. Essentially, I am putting these other things as false idols in my life. Please forgive me for this, Father. Help me to follow Your command here, to never have any false idols which are above You, but hopefully none at all. Remind me to get back on Your path, Father, when I begin to stray. Help me to be content in my relationship with You throughout the journey You have me on, regardless of what is going on around me, Father.
EXAMPLE ( 1 Kings 16:1-4, 12 ): I think the verses I used to show You fulfilling Your promise also serve as a great example. You are all knowing, but also all powerful. You can control anything and everything, but sometimes You just sit back and allow evil things to happen without interference from You. You could have prevented Zimri from destroying Baasha, but then You would be condoning Baasha’s very sinful nature. Instead, You chose to use Zimri, also evil, to destroy Baasha and fulfil the punishment prophecy which Jehu said on Your behalf. You chose to allow the evil against evil to occur as punishment against Baasha. This doesn’t mean that You let Zimri off to reign freely as You quickly destroyed him as well due to his own evil ways. I must remember that oftentimes You just allow things to happen for a bigger purpose which I am not privy to in the moment and may not be at all until I join You in Heaven. Help me to constantly understand this, Father, so that I may be content with anything that occurs in my lifetime, even if it appears to be extremely evil. I know Your plans are always greater than my own, so thank You for knowing what’s best for me, Father.
*DAILY NOTE: I must admit, it feels great getting back into my quiet times after not having journaled in several days. I need to focus on not making excuses or utilizing “distractions” as unnecessary means to avoid my quiet times. I don’t know what the enemy nor my flesh is trying to keep me from in this journey, Father. What I do know, is that the more I dig into my relationship with You, the better off I am, so please keep reminding me of this daily so that I do not make this a horrible habit of inconsistency, Father. Thank You for Your amazing Word this morning, guidance, wisdom, kindness, and especially Your grace towards me.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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