PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN ( Conviction ): Today, Father, I feel somewhat convicted over my feelings towards a friend of mine. As You know, my family has helped his out quite a bit over the last year. The reason I feel convicted to confess to You today is because I feel some anger towards him. He doesn’t seem to be stepping up to do the things he needs to do to take proper care of his family. I am angry because I feel like I care more for his family than he does. Help me to settle this anger, Father. I know righteous anger is fine, but with my anger issues in the past, I do not want this to rise into something that goes against Your will for me, Father. Please forgive me for harboring these ill thoughts against him as well. Help me to be a better man for Your kingdom, Father.
PROMISE ( 1 Samuel 5:11 ): Not sure if this is a promise, a plan, or both, but I find the latter part of this verse to be an interesting one. The Philistines are recognizing Your great power, which is being symbolized through wherever this Ark of the Lord is located in Philistine territory. The final words in this verse are that “God’s hand was oppressing them.” I feel this as a promise because although the Israelites have done some bad things and wavered from You greatly at this point in scripture, they are still Your people and You are still showing the promise of You loving them through these actions towards the Philistines.
ATTITUDE ( 1 Samuel 5:7 ): The attitude of the Philistines is interesting to me. They have recognized Your great power and authority over this world, yet for some reason they still chose their god, Dagon, over You. Instead of recognizing Your power and authority by becoming believers of You, they chose to try their best to remove all artifacts and reminders of You altogether from their presence. I cannot fathom being a direct witness to these miracles from You and still worshiping a false god. Help me to not have an attitude like the Philistines here, Father. Help me to not only recognize Your great glory and power, but praise and worship You even moreso as a result!
COMMAND ( Conviction ): Not really a command from this chapter per se, although this chapter did ring the bell in my heart towards it. I do feel a bit of compassion towards the Philistines here. They are so overcome with fear and worldly blindness in worshipping this false god that they would rather remove You from their presence instead of worship You. The compassion I feel towards them is something I also feel You are commanding me to do towards my friend I mentioned in my sin confession today. Help me to be a bit more compassionate towards him, Father, so they I may be able to properly guide him in the ways You want me to in order for him to better support his family.
EXAMPLE ( 1 Samuel 5:11 ): Did the Israelites have to suffer greatly so that this Ark could make it into the hands of the Philistines so they could witness Your great power first-hand; so that they would be vanquished from within instead of at the hands of the Israelites themselves? I’m not sure if either of those are true, but I do find this example rather interesting. The Philistines were allowed to kill over 30,000 Israelites in battle and become victorious over the Israelites to include taking ownership of the Ark of the Lord. You seem to use this as a visualization for them, however, because You begin to inflict great harm on their people anywhere that the Ark of the Lord resides. Although the Ark of the Lord is not the thing doing all of this, You are using it as a visualization for the Philistines which is why the harm to their people followed the location of the Ark. I love how You know exactly how to speak to the hearts of all people, good or bad, follower or not.
*DAILY NOTE: Thank You for such an amazing quiet time today, Father. Although it was a short chapter, I took so much out of this chapter and the conviction You’ve placed on my heart through the Holy Spirit. I am grateful for the blessings You have provided my family and am looking forward to what else the book of 1 Samuel has in store for my relationship with You and my life as a whole. I praise You, Father!
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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