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Quiet Time in Hebrews 12

Writer's picture: FilipFilip

Updated: Mar 16, 2022


EXPAND TO READ: HEBREWS 12 (HCSB)

 

PERSONAL JOURNAL:


SIN (verses 1-2): Likely one of my biggest issues in my faith journey has been my endurance. I’ll start sprinting through my faith journey, then when I feel that’s enough or I just get complacent, I’ll begin to slow down, sometimes stop altogether, or even start to move backwards in my faith journey. Please forgive me for the ups and downs in my faith journey, Father. Forgive me for not running with endurance and not always keeping my eyes on Jesus. Help me to be better at finding a balance in my faith journey, so that I do not become complacent, lazy, or even burned out in this race that You’ve laid before me. I understand that an all-out sprint is essentially what Jesus did for His entire life for You, but I am not Jesus and have many flaws, weaknesses, and selfishness that He did not give into or possess. It is quite a difficult race for me to run when I am trying to sprint through it, so please work in me to balance my methods, to balance my movements, to balance my actions in this life so that I am aligning with Your will, but I am also taking this journey in a way that I can consistently move forward with endurance as You want me to.

 

PROMISE (verse 11): Although I am very familiar with this one verse, I have not truly embraced it in my life in general but especially since coming to faith. The promise You make to us here is that Your righteous discipline yields the fruit of peace and righteousness for those “trained” by it. You promise us that Your discipline is a part of our training and not a punishment. Punishment would be the destruction You brought onto Sodom and Gomorrah. Discipline would be the trials and tribulations You’ve brought me through in my life that helped to redirect me back onto Your path for my life. Discipline would be the correction You have helped me with when I am obviously making mistakes that are not within Your will for me, Father. Discipline is a tool that You use for correction and training for our own well-being and not to punish or forsake us. Although I am not a fan of receiving discipline in the moment, neither spiritually nor earthly, I do understand the importance of it as a corrective measure for my own benefit. I am grateful for the promise of training through righteous discipline when You feel it is needed, Father. Thank You for always knowing what is best for me, even if I may not understand it in the moment.

 

ATTITUDE (verses 14-15): These two verses have honestly been a big struggle of mine for most of my adult life. I often fail at the pursuit of peace, joy, and happiness and instead fall into the trap of bitterness, self-defilement, and being the root of troubles for myself and others. Please forgive me for this, Father. You have shown me better ways of living this life recently, now that I am finally listening to You and allowing Your training, counsel, and discipline to work in my life. Help me to continue to embrace and build on an attitude of peace, holiness, and joy, so that I can put behind me any and all bitterness that I have allowed to resonate in my own soul, but also any bitterness that I have shown towards others. Help me to not only focus on, but also overflow with Your attitudes of peace, holiness and joy so that through that overflow I may show others Your amazing glory and Your amazing ways of living this life.

 

COMMAND (verse 25): Once again another simple command that I have failed at often throughout my life since coming to faith. Quite simply, You command us to listen to You and not reject the words You are speaking to us. You give us great counsel, instruction, and often even warnings throughout our faith journey if we are just willing to listen and accept those words You have spoken. Oftentimes throughout my faith journey, I have chosen many of my own selfish desires and even worldly ways over what You have spoken to me through Your word, through prayer, and even through Godly men speaking Your truths to me. Help me to be better at listening and accepting Your truths and Your words for my life, Father. Help me to follow this command more consistently in my life. If/when I do fail again in the future, please help me to make the duration and severity of that failure to become far briefer and more miniscule as I mature in my faith.

 

EXAMPLE (verses 7-10): My earthly father was only a part of my life for a very short period of time as he made many mistakes that caused him to stray from his family and leave us while I was really young. I say this because the example You give here doesn’t necessarily resonate for me personally as a child due to the void of a father and the abuse I received from my sister. As a father of 5 boys, however, I can definitely resonate with this because I do find it hurtful and painful to myself when I have to properly discipline my children because I want them to do better and be better than I have ever been. I completely understand the example Your giving here as our Father in Heaven wanting to discipline us not for our punishment/pain or Your enjoyment, as some earthly fathers do, but to properly train us in Your ways so that we can benefit in this life through the sharing of Your holiness. Thank You so much for Your righteous and perfect discipline, Father, as a corrective training tool. Thank You for always knowing what’s best for me, even if I do rebel often thinking that my ways are “just fine” for this life, even though they have proven not to be time-and-time again.

 

*DAILY NOTE: This chapter was quite a heavy-hitting one for me today, Father. Endurance in my faith; acceptance of Your discipline; pursuing peace, holiness, and joy through You; listening to and embracing what You have to say to me. These are all things I have struggled with immensely since coming to faith and some of them even in my life in general. Thank You for continuing to work in me, pursue me, and show me that Your way of living is FAR better than anything I could conceive on my own, Father. Thank You for always speaking to me about topics that I need to be better at. Thank You for knowing what to say to me when I struggle or even just to hone me a little bit more in a particular topic in my faith. I am so grateful for the amazing progression and maturity You’ve helped me to achieve in the last 6-7 months through You, now that I am finally willing to listen and embrace Your great counsel and instruction. Please continue to help me move forward with endurance, Father. Remind me of the past mistakes I made when I was trying to live this life my ways. Remind me of the great things that You have accomplished in my life since I have finally started to listen to You and embrace the many changes You’ve been wanting me to make for so long. Help me to not regress again and go back to my old ways, but if I do, please be there to help correct me and quickly bring me back to Your will for my life, Father.

 

EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES


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