EXPAND TO READ: ROMANS 5 (HCSB)
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 3): I don’t think I have ever been one to rejoice in my afflictions, like You say in this verse. Most of the time I become a pitiful shell of the man I am when things are going great. Please forgive me for this selfishness, Father. Help me to remember in those times of affliction to still rejoice in You, because through the affliction You will produce a greater man in me than I could have ever imagined if I let You. Remind me in those moments that affliction is something that I must lean on You through to be able to learn and produce endurance in my faith.
PROMISE (verses 6,8): Not only did You give us a promise of Your boundless love for us, but You also fulfilled and proved that promise through Your Son, Jesus. We were not worthy of anything due to our sin, yet You chose to embrace us in Your loving arms by sacrificing Your own Son for those sins. Thanks to this fulfilled promise and sacrifice, we are all able to embrace Your love for eternal life through Him who saved us.
ATTITUDE (verses 3-5): My attitude towards negative things in my life has always been pretty poor. Ever since coming to faith, that hasn’t really changed too much to be honest. That is my own fault, of course. Help me to embrace the spirit of hope and love that You are constantly pouring into me, Father, so that I may be filled by it. Help me to live with an attitude of hope and love through all things, so that Your glory shines through any situation. Soften my heart from all of my past mistakes and hurts, so that it can be filled with Your love. I want to be able to overflow Your love to others, but I can’t do that if I am unwilling and unable to accept Your love fully for myself. Mold me to embrace an attitude of acceptance of Your love, so that I can be a better and more Godly man for Your kingdom, Father.
COMMAND (verse 5): Although not necessarily a direct command, I do feel as though it’s a command for me because it is related to a struggle I’ve been in for a long time. My heart has been closed off, scarred, and hardened for a long time. Not just to my close relationships in this life, but also to You ever since coming to faith. You tell us in this verse that Your love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Just like a broken glass, however, one can only fit into the container as much as it is capable of holding at any given time. Please help me to be better at opening my heart towards Your love, Father, so that I may become truly full of Your love. Help me to heal all of the wounds and brokenness of my heart so that it can eventually reach its full capacity again.
EXAMPLE (verses 12-15): There are so many examples in this chapter, but the one about Adam in comparison to Jesus resonates quite a bit with me today. Adam was not Your perfect Son like Jesus was, but Adam was a baseline for who we all are because of those imperfections. Although Jesus was the perfect sacrificial Lamb for us, who died for our sins by Your loving grace, we are essentially a mirror image of Adam through our weaknesses and transgressions. Jesus’ perfection and sacrifice would not have been a necessity had it not been for Adam’s brokenness. I am grateful for Jesus and I am also grateful for Adam. Adam’s example shows us that it’s okay to be imperfect as we are all made perfect through Jesus. Thank You for this amazing example, Father. Thank You for showing us that it’s okay to have issues that we need to work on, just as Adam did.
*DAILY NOTE: I see You’re speaking directly to the brokenness of my heart today, Father. I have lived in a way that dwells on my past brokenness and forbids myself from receiving true healing and restoration from You. I am sorry for being so rebellious against the grace, healing, and restoration that You are constantly and willingly trying to provide to me, Father. I have gotten better as of late, but I do find myself still trying to hold onto some things of my past here and there. I do still find myself struggling in moments to truly embrace the healing You’ve provided to me, even though I have seen and reaped the benefits of that healing in other ways. Thank You for always being a consistent doer in my life, Father, even when I have often looked the other way.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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