PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN ( Conviction ): Father, today I come to You asking for forgiveness, but also help. I have been quite lazy when it comes to my quiet times with You as of late, which is evident in my lack of consistency. I’ve only been getting maybe 3-5 journals in each week over the last month instead of my usual 6-7. I don’t know if this is displeasing to You or not, but I do feel convicted in my heart to confess and ask for Your forgiveness. Please forgive me, Father, for my inconsistency, but also help me to get back on track for where You want me to be. If it is only 5-6 days a week, let me feel the joy in my heart at those numbers. If it has to be 7 days a week, then please continue to convict me until I have gotten consistent about it again.
PROMISE ( Judges 12:3 ): Just as You promised Jephthah, the Ammonites were handed over to Your people. Only a very small portion of Your people were needed due to You claiming victory over them ahead of time, but it was still Your people that You used to fulfill the promise.
ATTITUDE ( Judges 12:3 ): I find Jephthah’s calm and cool response to the Ephraim’s one that I need to work on. The Ephraim’s approached him in anger and outrage, yet he remained calm and gave an extremely truthful yet simple response to them. This kept the situation calm, avoiding any further uproar due to his own response, but also gave him the push and mental stability from You to go forth and defeat the Ephraim’s as they were not backing down. Help me to keep a cool mind, Father. I know my temper has gotten the better of me so many times in the past, but I ask You to help me remain cool and calm just like Jephthah did in this moment.
COMMAND ( Judges 12:1 ): It’s kind of odd that I see a command in this verse from what the Ephraim’s were doing, but I guess that is You speaking to me through Your truth and the Spirit. The command I see is to not lose my temper like the Ephraim’s did here over jealousy, which ended up being their total demise. I know I have had many anger issues in the past and even do a bit to this day at times. Although I have gotten much better, I do still have a lot of work to do in this department. Please help me to not lose my temper again, Father. Help me to recognize when my angry flesh is boiling over, so that I may walk away and calm down instead of blowing up on whomever is around me at the time.
EXAMPLE ( Judges 12:1-3 ): The interaction between the men of Ephraim and Jephthah is an interesting example. On the one hand we see how jealousy can overcome us if we allow it to do so. When we do allow it, we often do things we wouldn’t normally do, such as become angry to the point of going to war with God’s favored army. Obviously a bad move on the part of the men of Ephraim. On the other hand, You show us Jephthah’s response to the men of Ephraim being a calm and Kingdom-worthy response. Two very different sides to this story. I know I have been on both sides of this many times throughout my life. I just hope and pray that I am more on the side of Jephthah in the future instead of the Ephraim’s as I had been in the past.
*DAILY NOTE: Thank You for this brief chapter in scripture. Although it was very brief, I was able to get quite a bit out of it, so I am grateful for that. I do know that I need to work on my anger and irritability more. I seem to get angry or irritable rather easily and that is not the type of man I want to be in this life, nor is that the type of man You expect of me. Help me to mature in this topic, Father, so that as I continue to grow in my faith, I will also continue to become less and less of the easily angered and irritated man I once was.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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