Beneath the Surface

Growth Journaling is something that I have been doing for around 2 years now and I have found it to be so incredibly helpful in my walk with God. It has truly enriched the time spent doing my daily devotionals by journaling what I have read. What you sow into God's Word, you will REAP. (R- Read, E - Examine, A - Apply, P - Pray) I will try to post at least one of my journals here each week as part of a challenge to myself. I hope that you are encouraged through them, and I would certainly recommend journaling as I have watched the fruit of it in my life every day. I believe that you could also watch God use it as a powerful tool in your life as well. Enjoy (:

7/17/12
R: '"Ah stubborn children," declares the Lord, "who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin, who set out to go down to Eygpt without asking my direction, to take refuge in the protection of Pharoh and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt."' Isaiah 30:1-2

E: Oh how humanity has not seemed to change! Even thousands of years later, we are still seeking to find a way to do things without God. We are searching to try to find something other than His ways and truth to run to. How often we both corperately and in our individual lives we seek and carry out a plan or do things without the consult or Spirit of God! How quickly we turn back to Egypt, to the familar bondages for our place of security and refuge. Instead of coming under the shadow of the Almighty, we run to the place of our own flesh for peace that will not last.

A: I need to trust the Lord - DUH! But how often do I turn towards my own devices, towards the promises to pleasure and of comfort that are not of God? How we need to seek the guidance of the Lord at every turn, during every day of our lives!

P: Lord, help me! I often am tempted to turn towards my Eygpts of familarity instead of running to You. I want Your plan, Your way. Help guide me and break up the stubborness in my own heart. Let me seek your way Lord. In Jesus' name.

7/10/12 - High Priest
R: "For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priest, but the word of oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever." Hebrews 7:28

E: We don't have a priest who is afar off, but one who understands our feeling and our lives. Yet we our High Priest also doesn't stumble around in the sin and junk that we often do. Jesus is perfect and even in our weakness He is still strong. The first sinless human to walk the earth is the One we get to call on as High Priest!

A: In my weakness, Christ is still strong. I don't have to turn to a mere human who gets tangled up in the messes that I do (though we need human leaders in our lives as well). Jesus fully understands my weakness but never himself was consumed or tangled in the mire of sin. Jesus bore my sin and weakness in order that I could be made strong in Him. I need to call on my High Priest each and every day.

P: Lord, I need you. No mere human could ever take your place because no human had ever done or could do what you did. Thank you Lord for your sacrifice. I love you Lord. In Jesus' name.

7/9/12 Faith and Patience
R: "And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." Hebrews 6:11-12

E: We are given full assurance of the promises of God- yet sluggishly waiting is not our mandate! So often we don't see our faithless waiting as sluggishness...We need:
1. Faith: to believe that the promises are ours and are coming and
2. Patience: We do have to wait sometimess, but do so patiently believing God for His timing.

A: Can I get an Amen?! I need this so desperately! Often I have faith, but my lack of patience causes be to eventually grow sluggish in the faith I once held dear. I want to press towards God's promises earnestly everyday!

P: Lord, I need your help. On my own, I am not patient and sometimes I lack faith. Assure me of your promises, you are always good. Thank you Lord, in Jesus name

7/7/12 Today
R: "For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened...again he appoints a certain day, "today" saying, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." Hebrews 4:2,7

E: I naturally don't like doing things that don't bring benefit. I don't want to miss out on the treasures and promises of God because I am not united by faith. I want to receive these things because I daily believe in God's promises and respond accordingly.

A: I have been given TODAY. Though for me, today comes and goes, the chance to respond or not respond is constantly before the eyes of God. I always have today, but I only have today before it quickly passes on to yesterday.

P: Lord, help me to take advantage of today. Let me respond with an attitude of faith. In Jesus' name.

7/3/12 Upward, Inward, Outward
R: 'And I said, "Woe is me! For I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts..."Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and you sin is atoned for." And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here am I, send me."' Isaiah 6:5, 7-8

E. A few things I noticed: the word "lost" Isaiah came to the realization of the vastness of God. Other versions of this verse say, "I am undone" Isaiah realized that how totally helpless he was in the Presence of the living God. He saw clearly not only the truth of who God is, but also the state of his own heart and that of his generation. Being int he Presence of God causes us to clearly see the world in which we live and also the depravity and fallen state it is in. As Leonard Ravenhill once said, it brough his eyes upward, inward and outward. But God did not leave him here. God had him cleansed and prepared him for the call to come. God called him to action and Isaiah responded. A touch from God prepares us to do the work of God.

A: Isaiah, in the Presence of God saw how great God was, but also was moved by his own sin and by that of the world in which he lived. I need to spend time in the Presence of God just the same to be moved. When God calls to action, I want to respond! I want to be touched and be sent!

P: Lord, I am lost, I am undone. I am not big enough to handle this call or carry this mantle. REveal to me clearly these things! I want to be among those who you can send. Thank you for your grace to walk this out. In Jesus name.

*For more awesome commentary on this verse, check out: http://brandonpost.wordpress.com/category/why-revival-tarries/