EXPAND TO READ: ACTS 21 (HCSB)
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 14): This single statement resounded heavily in my heart, because I have failed often since coming to faith with living in this simple statement fully—The Lord’s will be done! I often feel the need to try and control the situations I am in, wanting to bend them to my own will instead of Yours, Father. Please forgive me for this disobedience. You do not call me to follow my own will or the world’s will for my life. You call me to follow Your will for my life. Forgive me for often delving back into my own need for control over the path of my life, Father. Help me to be better at fully embracing the phrase used here of “the Lord’s will be done!”
PROMISE (verse 13): I find Paul’s response here rather profound, but also revealing a promise of Yours. He simply stated that they should stop weeping over him and stop trying to break his heart, because he is fully prepared to die in the name of our Lord Jesus. The promise here is that if we are fully prepared in our faith, then nothing should shake us, not even death! Help me to truly live in this promise, Father, so that I am always prepared and strong in my faith to the point that nothing will cause me to waiver, not even the potential for death if that’s in Your will at the moment.
ATTITUDE (verse 14): Going back to my sin confession, I find this statement as an attitude adjustment that I need for my life. The statement is “the Lord’s will be done!” Oftentimes I have tried to invoke Filip’s will in my life or the world’s will for my life. Oftentimes I have walked in an attitude of control instead of releasing my life fully to You through ALL things, Father. Help me to be better at walking in an attitude of obedience to Your will for my life, but also an attitude of releasing control to You through all things. When I am in control of things in my life, there is rarely a good outcome due to my own weaknesses and mistakes. When I truly release control to You for the outcome but remain in Your will for the steps I take, then the outcome is always amazing and typically surprises me! Help me to be better at walking my journey in this life in Your way, Father, so that Your will is always what I yearn for.
COMMAND (verses 13-14): I see these two verses are speaking the loudest to me today, so this must be the lesson You want me to cling to and learn from the most today. In these verses, You elude to us being fully prepared for anything this life has in store for us by ensuring that we are aligned with and fully embracing Your will for our life. I am not supposed to try and control the outcome of all situations that arise in my life. I am not supposed to try and do what the world would want me to do. I am supposed to prepare for all challenges in this life by leaning on You through it all, gathering Godly wisdom, embracing spiritual discernment, listening to the Holy Spirit, and following Your will for my life. Help me to be better at following this command in my life, Father, so that I am always prepared for whatever this life has in store for me. Help me to be better at following this command, so that no matter the challenges I face in this life, it is Your will that I want done and not my own.
EXAMPLE (verses 37-40): Paul was beaten pretty bad, to the point that he struggled to even walk up the stairs as the guards were leading him to the barracks for reasons they did not know at the time. He politely requested, however, a moment to speak to the crowd. I will learn about what he says to the crowd in my quiet time tomorrow, but I still find it amazing that no matter the physical weaknesses and pain he was currently experiencing, he still felt moved and encouraged by the Spirit to take a moment to speak to the crowd in hopes that Your message would touch their hearts. Help me to live in a way, Father, that I always lean on Your strength through anything in this life. Your strength helped Paul stand-up to speak to the crowd. Your strength gave him the courage to face them in the first place. Your strength gave him what he needed to endure such great pain. It was Your strength that brought him face-to-face with the guards for the purpose of speaking to the crowd and deliver Your message to them.
*DAILY NOTE: Thank You so much for today’s amazing lesson and conversation, Father. I do have a lot of work to do concerning my faith. I do need to ensure that I am always prepared as much as You want me to be for this life’s challenges and obstacles. I do need to ensure that all that I am and all that I do in this life aligns with Your will for my life and not my own. Help me to no longer be selfish and disobedient in my walk with Jesus, Father. Help me to no longer live for my own will for this life. Help me to no longer walk this life in the way the world expects me to. Continue to remind me that You are always here with me, no matter what I am going through at any moment. Continue to remind me that it is Your strength I should always be embracing and not my own. Continue to remind me that no matter the storms of this life, that You are always there to get me through them according to Your will and not my own. Thank You, Father!
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
Comments