EXPAND TO READ: DEUTERONOMY 1 (HCSB)
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 32): In general, I do have issues with trust, even towards You, Father. I do not know why, but I’m guessing it’s because of many broken promises and betrayals from this world throughout my life. That is not Your fault and I should not be relaying my worldly trust issues towards You. In this verse, even Your own people whom You helped escape from Egypt had trust issues towards You and others. I do not want to be like them, Father. They were direct witnesses to some amazing miracles which You performed to help them escape, yet they still had issues trusting You. I have been witness to some amazing things from You as well throughout my life, yet I still struggle with trusting You at times. Please forgive me for this lack of trust, Father. Help me to grow my trust in You greater than it has ever been, so that I do not treat You as I do the world at times.
PROMISE (verses 10-11): This is more/less the fulfillment of a promise You made to them rather than just a promise, at first. Moses tells them that they have increased to the point that they are as numerous as the stars, just as God had promised them. He then proceeds to make another promise that God will increase them a thousand times more and bless them as He had promised. The promise of a seed turning into a large tree is amazing. The tree that God produces from His people, whom He helped escape from Egypt, is vast and amazing. Being first generation American and my family coming from the Mediterranean region, I could very well be a branch off of this exact tree for all I know. Unfortunately, I do not have my family history that far back to be certain, but how amazing would that be to be a direct descendant of those who You freed from Egypt?! Thank You for Your promises, Father, but also thank You for always staying faithful to Your promises through their always eventual fulfillment.
ATTITUDE (verses 9, 12-13): The great and almighty Moses knew his limitations. He knew that he couldn’t do ALL things for his people. He also knew that he had to empower them to be able to manage things on their own. He specifically said that he could not bear responsibility for them on his own and that he could not bear their troubles, burdens, or disputes by himself. Yes, God was the focus and heavily involved and depended on throughout this, but Moses knew that God would only do but so much for them through Moses. Instead of trying to be the central guy that did everything and took on everything, Moses branched responsibilities out to the others within the tribes he was appointed over. He shared the heavy burdens across many instead of just on himself. I do struggle with this, Father, because I often feel like I need to be in direct control of things to ensure they are done right. Please help me with this, Father. Help me to be better at sharing these heavy burdens with those around me, so that I am not the one carrying all the weight. Help me to walk in an attitude of righteous discernment so that I know what You want me to do myself versus what You want me to find others to do, Father.
COMMAND (verses 21, 29): Quite clearly, You are telling me multiple times in this one chapter to not be afraid or discouraged. This is in relation to Your will for my life and I should never be afraid or discouraged in doing something if that is something that You specifically want me to do. I know this is a struggle of mine because I tend to overanalyze things at times, but I also know that when I do abide in Your will for my life that things end up far better than if I had tried to do something my own way. Help me to be better at following this command, Father, so that I am not afraid nor discouraged when it comes to doing Your will for my life.
EXAMPLE (verses 12-17): Moses is absolutely amazing right here in showing me exactly how I should be handling my day-to-day tasks, but also the bigger tasks of life at work, church, and in my life as a whole. He openly admitted that there was no way he could do all things for his people; that he needed help. That’s the first big hurdle I need to overcome because I am horrible at asking for help as You very well know, Father. The next thing he did was suggested that the people select one person from each of the 12 tribes, under certain stipulations, to essentially take on a lot of the work that Moses was doing himself for them. After they selected their people, he then laid out some foundational groundwork for them to adhere to throughout their responsibilities. What I feel is quite important is that he didn’t just wash his hands clean of it all and walk away after appointing them and giving them the responsibilities. Instead, he quite clearly said that if there is anything they cannot handle, to bring those matters to him as that is what he is there for. Ultimately, Moses created a hierarchy of responsibilities, with the 12 appointees from the tribes being the first tier, then Moses, then God, with God always being the focus of all of their matters. Help me to be better at diversifying my decisions, my work, and the burdens I carry, Father. Help me to be wise like Moses was here in knowing my limitations in this life.
*DAILY NOTE: I wasn’t sure where You wanted me to go at first with my quiet times. I bounced around to a few different books of the Bible I hadn’t done, yet, and wasn’t really feeling like those were where the Spirit wanted me to go. Ultimately, as soon as I turned my Bible over to Deuteronomy, I initially felt my flesh (or maybe the enemy) telling me no because it’s REALLY Old Testament, but I felt something pushing me to at least read through the first chapter fully before making my decision to move on. I’m so glad I listened to the Spirit here, because Deuteronomy 1 spoke rather loudly too me, so I can only imagine what the remainder of the 34 chapters have in store for me over the next month or so. Thank You, Father, for this relationship increase with You to the point that I am starting to feel the Holy Spirit, but also that I am finally starting to actually LISTEN to the Holy Spirit. Thank You for today’s quiet time in Deuteronomy, Father. I look forward to this journey through this book in the next month.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
Commenti