Journal - Hope 04 - wk16

Hi everybody, it’s Pastor Dave with another Daily Devotion for your Alone With God journal. If you don’t have an Alone With God journal, you can get one at wordbymail.com. Or you can just use any blank journal. So, pause the recording if you need to, and grab your Bible and open it to 1 Peter 1, verses 3-5. That’s our scripture today. I’d like to walk you through the steps of our daily Journal guide today.

So first, let me just read the passage. I use the NLT version of the Bible, but you can use whatever version you’ve got.

1 Peter 1:3-5 (NLT)
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation,
4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.
5 And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.

Man, those are great verses, some of my favorites, for sure.

Now, it’s time for you to write in the MEDITATE section of your journal. In this section of your journal, it says, “What is God’s Word saying? What are the spiritual principles here?” And that’s exactly what you want to write in this section. So, go back over these verses slowly, looking for words or phrases that speak to you, and simply write down what God’s Word is saying. Don’t write what God’s Word means to you. Don’t write what God’s Word is saying to you. Just write the truth of God’s Word – write what it is saying.

For example, verse 3 says, It is by God’s great mercy that we have been born again to a living hope, to this great expectation, and now we live with that great expectation of eternal life. And because we’ve been born again through faith in Christ, verse 4 says, we have – we currently possess – a priceless inheritance that is being kept for us. It is being protected for us in Heaven. And that inheritance cannot change or decay. And verse 5 says that through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until the day that you receive that eternal inheritance and eternal life. So, just pause this recording, meditate on these verses, and write what God’s Word is actually saying here – and then come on back.

Okay, now, under the APPLY section in your journal, it says, “How does this apply to my life today, personally and specifically?” In this APPLY section, is where you write down how do these truths apply to my life today. What area in my life do I need to apply these great truths of God’s Word? What area in our lives do we need to apply this guarantee that through faith in Jesus, God is keeping us and protecting us by his power while we are on our way to a very real inheritance that God has waiting for us? How does that apply to your life? Okay, stop the recording and write. You go ahead and write how these verses apply, and then come on back.

Alright, now we move to the RESPOND section. In your journal, under RESPOND, it says, “What action will I take today in response to this truth?” So, this can be an action. This action can be a commitment of faith or action. You know, it can be a mental, spiritual, or emotional even, or it can be a physical action. It can be repenting from not living in the light of these great truths. It could be telling someone about these verses and how God spoke to you through them today. But guys, in some way, we have to respond to God’s Word. So, stop the recording, write in the RESPOND section of your journal, and then come on back.

And finally, the last step of the devotion today is for you to write out a prayer to God. Your heart has been aligned with God’s Word. You’ve applied it to your life. You’ve thought through how you can respond to it. And now, PRAY. Pray what’s on your heart, and write your prayer down because you will be amazed at the impact of writing out your prayer to God. So, go ahead, write your prayer down, come back one last time, and I’ll close with prayer.

Heavenly Father, thank you for this incredible promise of hope. This incredible guarantee of the Living Hope that we have in you, Jesus. Please help us, Lord, to direct every area of our lives with the knowledge of this confident living hope that you’ve given us. In your precious name, Jesus, amen.

Thanks, guys. See you again soon. Bye-bye.