EXPAND TO READ: DEUTERONOMY 9 (HCSB)
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 16): I truly came to my faith in You about 10 years ago. Oftentimes, throughout my faith, I have “quickly turned” from You, just as Your people did while Moses was on the mountain top with You for 40 days and nights. I do struggle at times with where I am focused and where I place my priorities. In the world this is known as ADD or ADHD, but when it comes to my relationship with You, this is known as disobedience and a lack of trust. Forgive me for my lack of obedience and trust in You at times, Father. Forgive me for often giving back into my flesh and the world by placing “something” or “someone” over You in my journey. Help me to be better at always keeping You as my focus in this life, Father, so that I do not turn away from You again as I have in the past.
PROMISE (verses 19-20): It’s amazing the power of prayer, especially unselfish prayer. I see here a promise of unselfish prayers being fulfilled. Moses prayed, unselfishly, for the people You appointed to him. They were extremely disrespectful and disobedient towards You, yet He prayed for protection over them and more chances than they likely deserved. He prayed for You to withhold Your anger and wraith from them and instead showing them even more grace. He knew they were not as obedient to You as he was, but he also knew that without his intercession that Your wrath over them would destroy them fully. He had such a great heart towards them that he did not want to see that happen, so he prayed for Your grace to continue to be showered over them, even though they were undeserving. Help me to live in this promise, Father, so that my prayers are unselfish even if at times they may go against Your will for others.
ATTITUDE (verse 4): Father, I do struggle with humility quite often in my life. I struggle with walking in an attitude of “I deserve” for all the things I gain and achieve. This is not what You expect of me. You had Moses tell Your people NOT to say that they are getting all of that land and such because of their righteousness, for their righteousness had nothing to do with it. Moses was essentially telling them to walk with an attitude of humility, so that all credit and glory goes to You for what they gain; not to themselves because they were not worthy. Help me to fully embrace this attitude of humility in my own life, Father, so that as I continue to progress in the building of my relationship with You, I give all glory and honor to You throughout it all, not to myself. I am not worthy of anything, yet You have given me everything through Your Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Thank You, Father.
COMMAND (verse 1a): Your command here is quite simple, yet one that I often struggle with. Your command is to listen. As the old saying goes, You gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason—to listen more than we speak. I have not really been this way for most of my life; quite the opposite actually. Help me to be better at following Your command here to listen, Father. First and foremost, to listen to You as Your guidance and wisdom is the most important. Secondly, to listen to those who are speaking to me, especially my wife, kids, family, and those closest to me. My mouth has gotten me into a lot of bad situations which had I simply listened more before speaking the outcome would have been vastly different. Help me to fully embrace this command to listen, Father, so that I may be more in line with Your will for my life, but also so that I may be better at understanding what is being said to me instead of often trying to respond before understanding.
EXAMPLE (verses 4-6): I find these three verses amazing, but I also find Your repetition and emphasis a little humorous. You had Moses repeat to Your people that their righteousness is not the reason You are doing these great things for them. It has absolutely nothing to do with their righteousness. Instead, it has everything to do with the wickedness of others. They are receiving these great blessings from You because those who You are taking from are extremely wicked in their ways and must be punished/destroyed by You with them as the vessel of that destruction. Going back to my own personal attitude adjustment, this is essentially Moses telling them to remain humble as nothing they are doing is deserving of what they are receiving. Help me to live more in humility, Father. Remind me constantly to live in humility as You reminded Your people here, through Moses. I need constant reminders, as You’re well aware, so please keep reminding me to live in humility at all times.
*DAILY NOTE: I see I need to work on both listening to You as well as living in and embracing attitudes of humility and unselfishness. You stressed these quite a bit throughout today’s conversation, so this must be the current struggles You want me to work on. Help me to be better for Your kingdom, Father. Help me to no longer live in my own ways of living as those have proven to be damaging to myself and those around me. Continue to mold me in Your ways of living, so that I can bring Your grace, Your peace, and Your joy to those around me while at the same time living in humility by giving all glory to You throughout. Thank You for today’s conversation and convictions, Father. Thank You for allowing me to truly hear what You are saying to me. I know You are always trying to speak to me, but I am not always willing to listen. Continue Your good works in me to make me a better listener as well, Father, both towards You as well as those closest to me.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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