EXPAND TO READ: DEUTERONOMY 27 (HCSB)
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 16): Am I dishonoring my earthly father by not pursuing a relationship restoration quicker, Father? Am I dishonoring him after he chose to not have anything to do with me for pretty much my entire life? Am I dishonoring him after he chose to abandon his family for drugs, alcohol, and women? Am I dishonoring my father by having false hope that he is truly a restored man by You? I know these are all rhetorical questions because I know Your answer is yes, I am dishonoring him for all of these questions. I know I am falling into a bit of sin on this topic, because I do have doubts, I do worry, and I am rather emotional and afraid on the topic. Please forgive me for my sin in my response to my earthly father. I am not as strong as You are, Father, with the never ceasing grace, love, and care You have shown to me. I know I have a lot more leaning on You to do throughout this and I know it is Your will that must be done. Help me to navigate this better, Father.
PROMISE (verse 9): I find the latter part of this verse amazing, because it shows a VERY old promise being fulfilled. It took a few generations, breaking free from slavery, parting of the seas, roaming the wilderness for 40 years, a lot of battles fought, but their promise has been fulfilled! God tells Israel that on that particular day, they have become the people of the Lord their God! The promise has been fulfilled for His people! Thank You, Father, for promises fulfilled! Even though they aren’t always in our preferred timing, that’s simply You teaching us that we are not in control, You are. Thank You for that reminder, Father.
ATTITUDE (verse 9): Help me to embrace an attitude of the words spoken in the middle of this verse, Father: “Be silent, Israel, and listen!” I do struggle with shutting up quite often. As a result of me speaking to much or trying to solve issues or even trying to respond, I fail to listen. Help me to embrace an attitude of silence and attentiveness, Father, so that I may be a better listener to those around me. Help me to embrace the attitude of attentiveness, Father, so that I may truly understand what people are saying to me instead of making assumptions at times.
COMMAND (verse 1): You started off this chapter with quite the opening by giving the command to “keep every command I am giving you today.” EVERY command must be kept, not just the ones I want to pick-and-choose because some are too difficult, or some don’t align with the way I want to live my life. You want me to keep EVERY command. Then You go on to announce a ton of commands in the remainder of the scripture. Although the number of commands in this scripture is just a tiny fraction of all of the commands, they are still extremely important. Help me to be better at truly following You and Your commands, Father.
EXAMPLE (verse 7): I really like this verse. They are being told to do a sacrifice to You, but You don’t tell them to stop there. You tell them to fellowship, eat, and rejoice with each other in the presence of the Lord! These people are standing up an entire nation, yet You are telling them to settle down a bit so they can fellowship, eat, and rejoice. No matter what we are doing, there’s always time for fellowship and rejoicing. Thank You for this example, Father!
*DAILY NOTE: I will admit that when I read this chapter the first couple of times, I was thinking that maybe I should also do chapter 28, because I didn’t feel I was getting enough out of it by itself to journal. As I began to put myself into the shoes of Moses, of Your people in this story, of the people being spoken about in this scripture, I finally began to truly feel what I should journal about today. I know I still have work to do on my feelings and thoughts towards my earthly father, which obviously You saw the need to bring it up again today. Help me to be better at processing this, Father, plus leaning on You throughout all of it. Thank You for today’s great conversation, examples, and convictions, Father!
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
Comments