EXPAND TO READ: DEUTERONOMY 14 (HCSB)
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 22): Father, I am not proud to admit this, but my tithing has never truly been in line with what You have requested of me. You say that we are to give a tenth of what we produce throughout the year. Although we do tithe, it has been stuck at the same amount for many years regardless of any pay fluctuations (up or down). That amount has not been at 10% ever, unfortunately. This is not because we do not want to give more. Rather, it is because we have gotten ourselves in so much debt over the course of our marriage, even before coming to faith, that our finances are not able to support a 10% giving mentality. I do give a lot of my time to ministry and we do donate a lot of “things” such as clothes, food, etc. to ministry, but financially we have never been at the 10% mark. Please forgive me for not being faithful in my giving thus far, Father. As I go into military retirement, start a new job, bring in more income as a result of Your blessings on my career, and begin to rediscover our finances, I ask for Your help in our debt, Father. Help us to be better stewards of what You have blessed us, so that we can pay off our debt as quickly as possible for the purpose of increasing our tithe to a minimum of 10%. Help us to be more mature and driven in paying off our debts so that there is more in our bank account to give back to You as well as to support those who need it most. Our income is a blessing from You and I need to be better a steward of Your blessings in my life, Father.
PROMISE (verse 29): Your promise here is starting to become far more obvious in my life recently, Father. I worked a lengthy career in the military making “okay” money on the job. It isn’t the best of pay being enlisted in the military, but the career I had with the discipline and mindset shift it requires was something I truly needed in my life at the time. I undervalued myself a bit when I first started the application process, not intentionally, but because that’s what I figured I’d be worth outside of the military. Thankfully, You put several very honest recruiters and mentors in my path that informed me that what I was asking for based on the experience You’ve blessed me with was far too low. As I began to go for those higher paying positions, I found that You gave me a career value far higher than anything I could have imagined, which is this promise coming to fruition for me. You are truly blessing me in all the work which I do and I am so grateful for the blessings You have given me, Father. Please help me to remain true to my sin confession today and my realignment of finances and such, so that I may become a better steward of Your blessings for the purpose of them not being wasted away. Help me to become a debt-paying machine for Your kingdom, Father, so that there are more fruits available for Your kingdom in this life.
ATTITUDE (verse 27): I do struggle with this at times. I even struggled as recently as last night as I was headed to Urgent Care for seeking help with my painful gout flare-up. You tell us in this verse to not neglect the Levite within our area, since they have no portion or inheritance directly from You. I take this as I need to be more open to helping others who come into my life, even if for a few brief seconds. Last night someone came up to me as I was walking up to the Urgent Care doors asking for money. I still live in a bit of fear in my life of random strangers approaching me out of nowhere when I am not prepared for it; especially walking up to me directly very quickly and eagerly. Jesus had people walk up to Him randomly all the time, yet He never feared what would happen; although He had a bit of an advantage over me because He already knew exactly what was about to transpire. Regardless, help me to be better at living with a giving heart, Father. Help me to no longer live in the fear which my upbringing and the world has produced in me when it comes to strangers approaching me for help. Even if the outcome isn’t what I hope for, it is all about my heart in those moments and not what comes out of those moments. Help me to be better at living with a giving, fearless heart in this life, Father, so that I may be able to help those in need as You have shown me here.
COMMAND (verses 1-2): I find these two verses quite interesting, especially considering the previous chapter’s contents, the remainder of this chapter and all of the topics discussed. These two verses do not seem to be in line with the content of the rest, but at the same time they are in line with the overall message as You are relaying things we are to do and are not to do in our walk with You in this life. These first two verses are more/less speaking to our appearance in this life. You tell us first about our identity as we are sons of the Lord our God. Then You tell us that we are not to cut ourselves nor make a bald spot on our heads on behalf of the dead. Lastly, You go back to telling us about our identity in You as we are a holy and chosen people chosen amongst the entire world to belong to You as Your possession. I feel the overall message behind this is that I am to know who I truly am as a son of God, but at the same time I am not to allow my appearance to define that faith in You, rather my actions need to be the defining factor of my faith in You. Help me to be better aligned with this command, Father. Help me to truly know exactly what my identity is in You, but also to never worry about a spiritual “mask” in this life as my appearance does not matter to You, only my heart, thoughts, and actions in this life matter to You.
EXAMPLE (verses 21, 24-29): I find these verses quite interesting. If I am interpreting these right, You are saying that although we cannot partake in certain things ourselves, as followers of You, it does not mean that we cannot still possess those things for the purpose of selling to non-believers so that we may have more money for Your kingdom in this life. We are to live our lives in a way that brings fruits to Your kingdom; the right fruits to Your kingdom. If we are in an area where we are limited on which fruits are sanctioned by You and which are not, then we can still use the unsanctioned fruits temporarily as a means of attaining more sanctioned fruits for You, Father. I never really thought of it in this way, but it does make sense. We are in a very broken world which has many things in it which are unsanctioned by You for my own use/consumption as a follower of Jesus. This doesn’t mean I can’t use those “things” as a means to bring more to Your kingdom as long as I am not making those things an idol and as long as I am not falling into sin as I use them to bring in more monetary value to my kingdom giving. If what I use to make money is not putting me into a sinful state and I am abiding in Your will for my life, then the transaction is sanctioned by You as it is able to bring me into a life of becoming a better steward of Your resources but also a better giver of what You have blessed me with. I do have a giving heart, but I often struggle to follow through due to my own worries, fears, and doubt. Help me to be better, Father, so that anything I do in this life is not riddled with sin, never puts anything above You, and always seeks to give back to You in any way that You’ve blessed me to do so.
*DAILY NOTE: I must admit, when I first started reading through this chapter I was thinking I should probably read the next chapter as well. I saw a lot of animals being listed at first and I wasn’t truly seeing the message behind the words. As I read through Your truth a second time, my eyes began to open to Your true message behind the words and I am so happy with the outcome of today’s quiet time. I must be better at my actions in this life being aligned with Your will for my life. I must be better at knowing and living in Your identity for me and not what my past or the world has led me to believe. I must be better at living with a giving heart. I must be better at being a good steward of everything You have blessed me with. I know it won’t be overnight, as You want me to put in the works as a test of my faith, but I ask that You help me go down the right path financially going into my military retirement, so that I may be focused on intentionally paying off debt in the coming months and years, Father. However long it takes to get to the point that You are pleased with my financial stewardship, I must become better. Teach me Your ways, Father. Help me to become better at paying off debt early instead of simply doing the minimum.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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