PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (Conviction): Today I come to You, Father, repenting for my sinful nature this week. Not only have I been disobedient to You through not accomplishing my quiet times consistently as You want me to do, but I have also given into the flesh through masturbation. I am not proud of this nor was it truly gratifying. I do not know why I did it, because things have been going great between my wife and I. I guess I am just struggling in general right now, which is evident in my lack of consistent quiet times with You. I don’t know why I am struggling because things are going amazingly great right now for my family and I. Help me to heal from this, Father. Help me to get back on track in my faith walk, so that I do not stray too far or for too long. Please forgive me for my transgressions over this past week, Father, as I am delving back into fleshly ways in some ways and I do not want to go back to the old me.
PROMISE (Chapter 19): You promised Your people a great inheritance and this entire chapter appears to be giving the final tribes their inheritances. Your promise is being fulfilled as always! In addition to that, You saved Your leader who replaced Moses for the final inheritance. Joshua was granted an inheritance by You and Your people at the very end as the leader who finished Moses’ works to get them to their final destination for obtaining their inheritance. Such an amazing journey that I got to read about through Your word, Father. Thank you!
ATTITUDE (Conviction): Today I am distraught with convictions, Father. Sin confessions as well as attitude adjustments that I must make. Today I’d like to focus on an attitude adjustment of focus. I seem to be easily distracted as of late and that’s not how I want to be. I need help focusing, Father. Help me to be better at focusing on my faith, on my family, on my work, and on the things I need to get done around the house. Help me to be better at removing and avoiding distractions, so that I can focus on what’s important to You and me, Father.
COMMAND (verse 20:9): Your command to Your people is to not only create a few cities of refuge, but to also respect and follow Your command to not harm nor allow anyone else to harm someone who committed an act of murder unintentionally if no ill intent or hatred existed prior to the death. This is kind of like the modern-day court system, at least how it’s supposed to be with the whole innocent until proven guilty side of things. We can’t just allow those who have hatred against someone who committed a harmful/hateful towards them or their friends/family to seek revenge. Revenge is not the way You want us to behave and in this verse is You placing some extra protections in-place to protect us from ourselves knowing that we often give into the flesh, in particular to revenge in this example. Thank You, Father, for knowing us far better than we know ourselves and for often giving us checks-and-balances to protect ourselves from ourselves.
EXAMPLE (verses 19:49-50): I really love the example You are giving to us here. Joshua took over for Moses in leading Your people to their promised inheritance from You. It was a LOT of hard work, wars, battles, etc. to get to where they’re at to this point in scripture. Every tribe was granted their inheritance by You through Joshua. You saved their fearless and faithful leader for the end, however, as it should be. A leader should not be looking out for what they gain from their work, but rather what those appointed to them gain. A leader, such as Joshua, gets their rewards after everyone else appointed to them has received theirs. Joshua was the last inheritance because as a leader he was ensuring all of Your people were properly taken care of according to Your wishes. He led Your people with faith, obedience, conviction, and a just nature. Thank You for such a powerful example of what a leader truly should look like and act in this life, Father.
*DAILY NOTE: I know I’ve been struggling quite a bit in my quiet times as of late, Father, but You are always there with me. I know You are always here because I can feel Your presence; I can see You in all that I am and all that I do. Thank You for never leaving my side, Father, even though I have not been as consistent and obedient in my quiet times lately. Help me to get back on track, Father. Help me to continue to pursue You with all that I am on a daily basis through prayer, petition, journaling, etc. which are all a part of my quiet times. I want to make sure that I stay on the path which has brought my family closer together and not the path that I was previously on which was destroying my family. Thank You for all You have done for me, Father. I ask that You continue to remind me of my past so that I can lean on You to create a better future for my family and I.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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