Isaiah 53:5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon him; and by His stripes we are healed.

I see in a lot of moments I still find myself not seeing what Jesus has done for me and allowing that to shape the way I move and think. I lose site a lot and it’s quite discouraging when I think about it. I see a bit of an issue with my temper being roused and I see a lack of patience and long-suffering . With that, obviously theres a lack of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. That being the case, there’s a lot that could be causing this but the bottom line is a broken fellowship with the Lord. Not that He has left or forsaken me but that there’s somehow a distance probably due to sin. At this point, the only thing I can do is ask God to seek out my heart and if there’s any wicked way within me that He would reveal that to me and help me move forward in the way that He would call me. I need the Lord to make straight my path. For that I see Him using this verse “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities:” I see this and I’m in awe that I can allow myself to fall into such a place that I can be so far from the standard that God calls us to live. I also understand that I’m my own worse critic especially if I allow the enemy to throw things at me. So I must push on and move forward looking unto Jesus knowing that He paid it all and is not holding my sin over my head but wants me to move past what’s holding me back. I will press on boldly asking for forgiveness humbly and allow Him to shape and mold me submissively. I can’t be a fool and turning from correction and rebuke, but growing in patience and long-suffering when He reveals the error of my ways by taking heed to them.

 

Application: I will ask my teammate Joel to pray with me as I ask God to reveal to me the issues of my heart.

I Thessalonians 2:6 Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ.

Looking back on my time in Ignite, I can see a part of me that craves attention towards certain things such as past lifestyle choices. My flesh desires to tell stories of my past string up the pride of life within and instead of telling some stories of my past in a manner that glorifies God my flesh craves to do it to make me look “cool”. I thank God for His Holy Spirit in which He shines a light upon the foolishness of my heart. The process of sanctification is not easy but I thank God that He is showing me the error of my ways which in this case is seeking glory for myself.

Application: I will make a stand to not tell stories of my past unless guided by God to do so. Instead I will share of what God is doing or in short share what God has brought me through.

I Thessalonians 3:11-13 Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with His saints.

I can see in this time as it’s coming near to the end of our field time, interactions with people are become more sweet and I can see even amongst us interns the time together is even more so cherished. “and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all” I pray this prayer over me and over all of class I also pray this for the classes to come. I see the Lord using this time in my life to show me how short life truly is and I pray that I can apply this to future relationships knowing how fast my time with people can end. At any moment, God can move people out of our lives for his purposes and I don’t want to take more time for granted.

Application: Pray this prayer for this week “ May the Lord make you abound in love to one another and to all.

Exodus 33:13 Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.

In the midst of everything going on its easy for me to lose focus of what’s actually going on. As I’m going about my day handling my responsibilities I can find myself with a lack of peace and sometimes frustrated . Today was not a bad day but there was a lack of peace within and it caused me to be distracted a bit and I got stuck looking inward, and lately that’s been a problem for me is being so focused on myself. It’s about 5:30 PM and I’m back at the house, prior to me writing this, with this lack of peace and me focusing inwardly, I had to get alone with the Lord and that’s when He lead me to this verse. Moses before taking this time with God may not have thought to ask of God this simple question:”Show me your way.” Moses just wanted to better know and understand God and I can feel in my spirit that I desire to better know Him as well. I have been clouded and too distracted by self to ask God to show me His ways and to take me deeper.

Application: Place a not in my pocket with this verse to remind me when I get stuck looking inward to look up to God.

Genesis 22:1-17

We all know the story of Abraham and Isaac and oh how easy it is to look over it as a story we have read over and over and think how we’re so familiar with this portion of scripture until the Holy Spirit tugs on your spirit and then the Word becomes alive and active . Lately I’ve been dealing with this sense of reserve as if U;m not full committed to the Lord, and then I begin to pray and ask what is it that I’m holding onto so dearly; Then these things start to spring forth from my heart as like a well and I find myself realizing that maybe its not just that I ‘feel like’ there is reserve but that there really is. For this God has been bringing me to Abraham and how he dealt with it. I can only imagine how Abraham wrestled with the thought of sacrificing his son. The inner turmoil, the questions running through his mind and after all that, after he wrestled with it long enough he realized there was nothing else to do but to submit. And there comes the resolve. Realizing that if his son is what God required then he was willing to give him to the Lord fully. Isaac was his everything, within Isaac rested even the promises of God. Abraham trusted God with Isaac, his own son and that’s a challenge to me to be willing to give everything up for God.

Application: I will make a commitment to the Lord to lay down what it is that God has brought to my attention for a time and have one of my teammates hold me accountable.

Psalm 111:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever! ESV

  Reading through Psalms 111 I see a great example of what fearing the Lord looks like. This psalmist is giving respect to the Lord giving Him praise and proclaiming how great our God is. That paints the fine line between actual fear and respectful (quote unquote) fear. James 2:19 also gives a good example of the line between fear and respect: You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe- and tremble! Which leads me to the second half of psalm 111:10  A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.<NKJV> Fearing the Lord doesn't mean shaking in our boots. In our fear or respect of Him and the work on the cross we have no reason to be afraid like the demons do who tremble for Gods love has been poured out on us.

Ephesians 5:15-17 “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

I can picture Paul after having written these verses just thinking to himself need I say more" And doing a mic drop with his pen. I mean, I read this and it's so point blank it's hard to really even say anything other then what it says. He tells us to walk circumspectly or carefully. I translate that to Don't be reckless and foolish, but walk in the wisdom the Lord blesses you with. He also tells us to redeem our time . Pretty much use it wisely and the best way to use it wisely is to know the will of our Heavenly Father. Asking the Lord, seeking His will being fixed on Him making sure we spend time in the Word . With that being said, it's easy in this setting to do this with all this counsel at hand 24/7, the accountability. Knowing that you have eyes on you almost at all times. The real test is outside of this training and we end up back in our old lives. When we're in the world but not of the world. Not under the eyes of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ but under the eyes of the world where we think we may be able to let a few "quote unquote harmless things slide. I've been subject to this reckless behavior and had been fooled and I crashed because I didn't walk carefully and I didn't make the best use of my time and the days are evil and I allowed that evil to draw me in. So I say take heed to these words and dont only know the will of the Lord but seek after it with all you have .