EXPAND TO READ: DEUTERONOMY 28 (HCSB)
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (Deuteronomy 28:47): There have been many times in my life since coming to faith which I have failed to pursue and serve You with joy and a cheerful heart. Even as You continued to bless me in so many ways, I still could not truly feel nor embrace joy and cheer in my heart as a result of me clinging onto all of the pain, hurt, scars, wounds, etc. from my worldly experiences. My sin confession today is that I have not been consistent with following You, pursuing You, and serving You in the way which You deserve, Father. You’ve shown me so much grace and given me so many blessings in this life, yet I still have not lived out my faith in consistency towards serving You in the way that I should be. Please forgive me for this, Father. Help me to be better at truly and consistently embracing joy and a cheerful heart in my faith, Father!
PROMISE (Deuteronomy 28:1-2): Today’s quiet involves You speaking right at the start about promises and blessings. You assure us right from the start that if we faithfully obey You and are careful to follow all of Your commands given to us, then we will be blessed beyond what we could imagine. How amazing is this? All I have to do is do as I’m told to do and I will be blessed beyond measure?! I am blessed beyond measure already and I know that is definitely not by my own works, Father. That is 100% because of Your grace and I am so grateful for the life You’ve provided to my family and me.
ATTITUDE (Deuteronomy 28:47): I really need to work on this. It’s quite easy for someone with my upbringing and military career to dip into negative thinking quickly. Here You tell us that we should live out our faith and serve You with joy and a cheerful heart, especially when we have an abundance of everything. Please help me with this struggle, Father. Help me to be more joy-filled and cheerful in my faith and in life in general. Help me to walk with a smile as frequently as possible knowing that Your love for me overpowers anything this life may bring to my feet. Thank You for blessing my family and I with an abundance of our needs, Father, but in the abundance help me to remember to praise You through it as it can be taken away quickly. If/when the abundance is taken away, remind me to continue to praise You no matter the things going on around me, Father. You are ALWAYS worthy of my praise and I need to remember to be more consistent with this.
COMMAND (Deuteronomy 28:13-14): These verses hold both a command as well as an amazing promise if we can fully and truly follow this rather massive, but simple command. Your command is to always listen to You and to follow Your commands fully, ensuring we never stray left/right nor do we ever worship other gods. That may sound like a simple command because all we have to do is listen and do what we’re told, right? Unfortunately, my flesh gets in the way FAR too often. My old/bad habits rise up in me far too easily. Help me to be better at following You, Father. Help me to be better at understanding You and discerning the steps You want me to take, Father, so that all I do is pleasing to You. Help me to be so in line with Your will for my life that the promise in these verses of always moving upward and never downward can be fulfilled in my life for my family and me.
EXAMPLE (Deuteronomy 28:2-6): I really like how You often choose to paint a mental picture of the things You want to tell us, Father. It really helps me to truly grasp the point You are trying to make at times. It also helps me to often see the true intent and meaning behind Your words spoken through the disciples and such. In these verses, You give us so many examples of great blessings we could receive if we simply follow and obey You. That’s it! If I truly follow and obey -You, then the list of blessings just gets longer and longer both here in this life as well as in the next. I know my faith is not some type of “rewards” system, but it is nice to get a “good job” or a “gift” from our parents every so often and that’s how I feel when I receive a blessing from You. I feel like a son being told “good job” by his Father. Thank You for this, Father!
*DAILY NOTE: This was a VERY lengthy read for me. You know I’m not a very fast reader, but here we are reading 2.5 pages worth of scripture for my quiet time. I am trying my best to remain consistent and obedient to You, Father, which is why I chose to power through this no matter how long it took me to read it. I am grateful I did. Although there’s a lot of overlapping context in this scripture, it shows me what You are wanting to put emphasis on. Essentially, this chapter’s topic can be summed up as follow me properly and great blessings will arrive, but if you depart from your obedience to me then great curses will be experienced by you. I really do need to get better at following You and loving You fully and with the consistency and obedience You expect of me, Father. Help me to be better. Thank You for today’s amazing conversation, Father. As always, I truly do appreciate everything You have done and are doing in my life.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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