EXPAND TO READ: DEUTERONOMY 22 (HCSB)
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 22): My sin today, Father, is one that I have already confessed to You, my wife, and my brothers in faith. My sin today is concerning the topic of me, being a married man, having sexual relations with a married woman who is not my wife. I confess that I did cheat on my wife with a married woman. Based on Your old law, both of us are deserving of death in Your sight as these acts are detestable to You. I am ashamed of what I did and I do recognize that I am deserving of this punishment. At the same time, Jesus died for all of my sins and the grace You’ve shown me through His sacrifice is sufficient to cover ALL of my sins, even this one. Help me to no longer feel guilt nor shame over my past, Father. Help me to live in the grace You have provided to me, so that my guilt and shame do not re-crucify me daily.
PROMISE (verse 5): Although this is mostly a command, I also see it as a promise as You are revealing to us some of the things You find detestable in this world. This particular verse covers cross-dressing specifically for both men and women. You do not want men nor women dressing as the other gender. You promise us that all who do these things are detestable in your sight. Thank You for this promise, Father. Although Your grace and Jesus’ sacrifice covers all sin, including that discussed in this verse, Your Old Testament rules are still solid guidelines for us to live by and should be followed to the best of our ability.
ATTITUDE (verse 4): My attitude adjustment today is to be better at helping my fellow brothers who are in need. I do sometimes look the other way, which I am not proud of. Although You have blessed me with a big, caring, helper’s heart, I do fight that urge often out of my own selfishness, fear, or lack of confidence in the moment. Help me to be better at embracing and living in a helper’s heart fuller, Father, so that my brothers who need my help are never lacking to the best of my ability in this life.
COMMAND (verse 8): You give MANY commands in today’s scripture, Father, but this particular verse really stood out to me. If we own or build a home, we are to build it in a way that is safe for others, so that we do not “bring bloodguilt on our house if someone falls on it.” I feel like I’ve followed this command rather well, but could/should I do better? If I am lacking in this, Father, please help me to better follow Your command of ensuring my home is safe for both my family and any guests we invite into our home. I do not want my home to be cursed with bloodguilt, as You state here. I want it to be as safe as I can make it for anyone who enters it. Help me to ensure I am being a blessing for all those that walk onto my property by ensuring a safe environment for them, Father.
EXAMPLE (verse 1-4): The very start of this scripture gives some great insight into how we are to live our lives amongst others. We are to be as helpful as we can be, looking for ways to help out our brothers in this world. We are not to stray away from the blessing of helping them, rather we’re to actually step up and do what we can to ensure that everything within our capabilities are being done to help them where we can. Ignorance seems to be a rabid disease in today’s world, both ignorance in refusing to listen to facts/truth, but also ignorance in ignoring situations that we could help out with. I’m guilty of this just as the world is, unfortunately. Help me to be better at helping others when and where I can, Father, so that You may be glorified through ALL that I am in this life.
*DAILY NOTE: Interesting message today, Father. You hit me with a LOT of the law of Moses commands today. Although Jesus has covered us and is the new covenant/law, the old law still gives some great insight and guidelines on how I should be living my life. Thank You for providing some direction to me today, Father. Thank You for giving me more and more insight into the way things used to be. Knowing the old law gives me an even greater appreciation for the new covenant through Jesus and I am so grateful.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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