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Quiet Time in Matthew 8


EXPAND TO READ: MATTHEW 8 (HCSB)

 

PERSONAL JOURNAL:


SIN (verse 26): Just like the men on the boat here, I too have given into fear instead of fully trusting in You through my faith. Just as You told them, I too have felt You say this to me at times: “Why are you fearful, you of little faith?” Please forgive me for sometimes lacking in my faith by giving into my fleshly fears, Father. Continue to remind me that no matter the circumstances I’m in, that my faith in You is what holds me together. Remind me that regardless of the situation, if I hold firm to my faith then the result of that situation is irrelevant because I remained faithful to You throughout all of it. Help me to no longer give into my weaknesses, Father, so that I am strong, brave, courageous, and void of all fear by leaning on You throughout all things.

 

PROMISE (verse 27): I see this as a promise based on the example You provided to these men on the boat. The promise is that nothing is beyond Your power. The men realized that even the winds and the seas obey You! How powerful is that? Something that we have no control over You have full reign over! Thank You for being almighty and all powerful, Father. Thank You for showing me yet another example of this through Your scripture, so that I may lean heavily on the power You possess to help get me through the difficult times in this life.

 

ATTITUDE (verse 2): The man that approached Jesus for healing of his skin disease really spoke to me heavily with a few of the words he stated when making the plea to Jesus: “Lord, if you are willing.” How often do I make pleas to You in this life just generically and not considering that it is Your will that is to be done and not my own? How often have I been disrespectful in my requests, almost to the point that it may sound like I am making demands of You? Help me to live in and embrace an attitude of humility in my requests and my prayer life, Father, by always seeking Your will throughout instead of my own. Even in the darkest and toughest of times throughout my life, remind me to keep the focus on Your will being done and not my own. I don’t know nor see the “big picture” in my life or of those around me, but I know that I should always start my requests to You with “Lord, if You are willing” so that I am always trying my best to request Your will be done.

 

COMMAND (verse 22a): As Jesus has said many times throughout His ministry, the command here is quite simple: “Follow Me.” He doesn’t ask for much more of His followers initially other than the simple command of “follow Me.” I know I haven’t been the best at following through with this command since coming to faith. I have tried to be in control of my own path quite a bit, even since coming to faith. Unfortunately, I have failed many times at things when I am in control. When I release control to You, however, I can see the blessings throughout those moments. Help me to be better at following this command of following You, so that as I do navigate this crazy world and life, it is You who I seek through it all for guidance, wisdom, and direction, not my own understanding of things.

 

EXAMPLE (verse 17): Another older scripture has been fulfilled through Jesus! Amen to that! Isaiah said, “He Himself took our weaknesses and carried our diseases.” Jesus fulfilled this promise thoroughly multiple times throughout His short ministry on this earth. I am grateful for this fulfillment of a promise, but also glad that the Isaiah verse has been spoken to me today. I find this verse to say far more than it initially implies. The first revelation I have is of the second part saying, “carried our diseases.” It doesn’t say that Jesus completely destroys and banish the diseases; it says that He carries our diseases Himself. How much of a weight and burden Jesus must have been carrying in Him after all the healing was done leading up to His crucifixion. Not only did He have to carry the weight of the cross after being beaten to almost death, but He was also carrying the weight of all the diseases He cured leading up to that moment. WOW! The first part is similar to the second in that Jesus “took our weaknesses.” You don’t just fill the voids in our weaknesses, You literally take our weaknesses from us and replace them with Your strength. I often fail to recognize that I no longer have to live in my weak, old self because I have a new, born-again identity through Jesus. I feel this is what the first part of this verse alludes to, our new identity that is stronger than anything we can fathom if we simply give ourselves fully to You, Father. Thank You for this amazing example and revelation in my life, Father!

 

*DAILY NOTE: There is so much to learn from throughout Jesus’ ministry on this earth. There is so much to learn about Jesus Himself, of course, but also about myself. Throughout the scripture today, You have basically talked about the topic of faith (strong or weak). You have given me examples of those strong in faith and those weak in their faith yet showed me that even the smallest bit of faith can still have great miracles performed for them such as those on the boat with the storms. They were fearful and said that they were going to die because of the storms. They had little faith that Jesus would be able to keep them safe through the rough trials nature was bringing to them. Thank You for speaking to me about my faith today, Father. I know I have struggled often over the years since coming to faith, but I also know that You have always been there with me wanting to help me and guide me through the wilderness of this life even though I was very stubborn and disobedient at times. Thank You for never giving up on me, Father, no matter how strong or weak my faith may have been in the moment.

 

EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES


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