EXPAND TO READ: MALACHI 1 (HCSB)
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 6): In this verse, You are convicting my heart right from the start. You say that a son honors his father, yet how long have I lived this life lacking any type of relationship with my father? My father has been out of my life since my childhood, with no attempt from either side to rekindle at least some semblance of a relationship. A lot of this has been due to hardness in my heart towards him and I am sorry for that, Father. You tell me here that I am to honor my father in this life, but how can I do that if I harbor all of this negativity towards him? How can I do that if I never give him an opportunity to reconcile things? He has said to my siblings that he is a new man since being released from prison; that he is now a man of God who doesn’t drink, smoke, or do drugs anymore. I guess I must at least give him the benefit of the doubt and show him some grace just as You have shown me SOOOO much grace in my life, Father. Please forgive me for living in this hardness in my heart for so long, Father. Help me to truly heal from this pain and hurt that I’ve been holding onto for so long so that I can take the steps You want me to take towards possibly reconciliation with my father.
PROMISE (verse 11): The promise You make here is about Your name and slowly but surely I have seen this come to fruition, but also seen the enemy and corrupt world combat this every step of the way. You promise us that Your name will be great among the nations in every place. I do see sprinkles of this throughout, but I do feel like the disobedience, corruptness, and stubbornness of this world has caused this to take far longer than it should. Maybe that’s by design, because You have said that things will get worse for Your followers before Your return. I do not know when Your return will come, but I do look forward to that day when You will truly be praised across all the nations and in all the places across this world!
ATTITUDE (verse 5): I find this an interesting thing to say. You are speaking to them about some devastation that You will bring to some whom You are against. Then You finish this by saying that we will see this with our own eyes and we will say “the Lord is great, even beyond the borders of Israel.” I do see Your presence all over the world, even across many oceans here in the US, Father. I find it hard to see You at times, however, through devastation. I know You are always present, but when I see destruction my heart aches and I find it difficult to see past my fleshly pain in those moments to see Your presence. Please help me to keep my spiritual eyes open throughout ALL things in this life, Father, so that I may always see Your presence no matter the situation or event.
COMMAND (verse 9): Your command here is quite straightforward, but at the same time I find it rather profound. Your command is to ask for God’s favor. In that, however, You essentially are asking us how confident we are in asking for Your favor as that will likely determine the outcome. Am I confident enough in my relationship with You at all times to ask for Your favor? I don’t think so to be honest. Am I confident enough sometimes to ask for Your favor? Definitely. I do feel like I need to work more intently on building up my confidence in our relationship, Father, so that when I do ask for Your favor in something I am confident that I will receive it always because I am aligned with Your will for my life. Help me with this progress, Father, and to always align myself with Your will for my life.
EXAMPLE (verse 14): I find this verse interesting due to how it opens. You say that the deceiver is cursed who has an acceptable male in his flock but instead sacrifices a defective animal. The part I find interesting in You calling the person the deceiver when that is typically the description used for Satan himself. Do You mean that the person who gives a bad sacrifice intentionally actually IS Satan at that time or do You mean that the person is following the same path as Satan in that moment, essentially allowing Satan to call their shots? Could it be a bit of both depending on the actual situation? I never noticed this use of words before, so I am finding it interesting how much more You are speaking to me now that I am committed to being in Your word every single day of my life, Father. Help me to never again hold the title of deceiver, Father, so that as I walk in this life it is on Your path and by Your steps for me and not by the ones Satan wants me to take. Help me to be able to truly know the difference between the two, Father.
*DAILY NOTE: I was struggling a bit with finding the next chapter You wanted me to get into after completing the book of Matthew, Father. I read through some scripture that I haven’t done quiet times in, yet, and didn’t truly feel called to those. I then decided to take a look at Malachi as I hadn’t done a quiet time in Malachi ever that I can recall and I am so glad You led me this way, Father. If the rest of Malachi is anything like this first chapter, then I will have some really convicting talks with You over the next few days in this short chapter. Thank You, Father, for today’s conversation with You and for leading me in the way I need to go by speaking to me directly through the book of Malachi.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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