EXPAND TO READ: MATTHEW 21 (HCSB)
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verses 29-30): How often have I been the second son in these verses in my faith journey, Father? How often have I said I would do something in my faith, then end up not doing it at all? Why can’t I be more like the first son, where even if I rebel in the moment, I still am faithful with my actions by still doing what You want me to do? Please forgive me for not adhering to my word to You, Father. You called me to be a man of my word, yet I have often said one thing to You and done another. I have often accepted a command from You up front, but then never acted on it. Please forgive me for this disobedience and immaturity in my faith, Father. Help me to be better at being a man of my word, especially to You. If I am not a man of my word to ANYBODY else, at least I am faithful and loyal to You through my words and actions.
PROMISE (verses 21-22): This is a powerful promise which Jesus makes to the disciples in this moment after using a fig tree to teach a lesson. He tells them that if they have faith, full belief, and no doubt, then they will receive whatever they ask for in their prayers. WOW! I know I am not void of doubt in my life, Father, but I also know that You have answered MANY prayers of mine as well as left many unanswered because things would have been worse for me had some of my prayers actually been answered. Your discernment is amazing and this promise gives me hope and strengthens my faith. If I am firm in my faith and void of doubt, then You will provide all that I ask for in my prayers! Thank You, Father!
ATTITUDE (verses 25-26, 46): Jesus was pretty much coming at some folks in the crowds pretty directly in these moments, but did it in the way of parables. Regardless, these people still felt conviction in their hearts and knew exactly who He was speaking to. The focus here for my attitude adjustment, however, is the fact that they feared the crowds which they allowed to control their responses to Jesus. I know that I can never have true revelation, conviction, or learning from You if I live in fear of what others in this world may think of me or say to me. They didn’t say John had authority from heaven because they knew Jesus would say something like “then why didn’t you believe him?” They didn’t say John had authority from man, because they knew the crowd believed him to be a Prophet and they feared the crowd, so they didn’t want to upset them. Instead, they simply said they didn’t know, even though God knew in their hearts that they did know. They allowed their fear to dictate their response to You. They knew the right answer was from heaven, but they also knew what the follow-up response would be if they answered that way and they feared the convictions that would come along with that as well as feared giving Jesus more power and a “victory” over their conversation in a sense. Please help me to not let fear drive decisions in this life, Father. If I live in an attitude of confidence in Your truth, then fear should never be something which I allow to take over my responses.
COMMAND (verses 12-13): I really love how Jesus went into the temple complex and essentially began to cause a ruckus over all the craziness that they were allowing to occur on holy ground; allowing to occur in God’s house on earth! He didn’t hold back and made sure they knew exactly what they were doing wrong according to God’s truth and word, which they claimed to know vividly and to supposedly live by. The command here is that God’s how will never be disgraced as they were doing and instead be held high as a house of prayer to You. Please help me to abide by this command, Father, so that I never disgrace Your house on this earth. Help me to always treat Your holy temples in this world as a place of honor, respect, prayer, and worship.
EXAMPLE (verses 7-8): Humility, humility, humility. Jesus is such an amazing example of humility. He has God’s power and authority. He is the perfect Son of God. He can do, if He wanted to, pretty much anything He wanted to do. Does He? Definitely not based on the world’s standards. Instead, He walked His ministry while here on earth with full humility towards Your wishes, Father. He could have rode on a massive stallion or on a glamorous horse and carriage or something like that. Jesus would never do something like that, though, because that is not who You called Him to be. Instead, He chose the epitome of humility by riding in on a donkey! A donkey! The workhorse of the fields and considered one of the lower forms of animals when it comes to royalty and what they would have chosen to ride on. He humbled Himself by showing that He is one of the normal people, whom He was sent for. He rides the “cheap” donkey for the sinners, the prostitutes, the tax collectors, and all other categories of people which the Pharisees and mankind have deemed to be the lost. He is truly the example to embrace what living a humble life truly means. Thank You for this example, Father. Help me to live a humbler life just like Jesus, Father.
*DAILY NOTE: Jesus’ story in this chapter just keeps adding to his title of the perfect Son of God. If it was me having to maintain these standards for the purpose of being the ultimate sacrifice of the entire world, I would have failed horribly at many levels. I would have stricken several people from the salvation that I would be providing through my sacrifice. I would have probably used more of and maybe even abused to an extent the great power and authority You granted. Jesus did none of this because He IS the perfect Son of God, the perfect Son of Man, the perfect Godly man, and the perfect example for me to look to when I am struggling with anything in this life. Thank You for such a great conversation today and for opening up more about the ministry of Jesus to me. I know what is coming up soon in this storyline of Jesus and my heart weeps and rejoices at the same time. I look forward to the next conversation with You through my quiet times, Father. Thank you for everything.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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