These are a few of our SOAP notes from today’s reading. We encourage you to read and journal on your own first, then join us in conversation about what God revealed to YOU today. Click HERE to go directly to the daily reading if you wish. Our team would love the privilege of praying for you! Please share how we can lift you in prayer at DiscoverOneThingPrayer@gmail.com
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This hurtful moment | Nikki Metzger
S~ The wicked are stringing their bows and fitting their arrows on the bowstrings. They shoot from the shadows at those whose hearts are right. Psalm 11:2 (NLT)
O~ Oh, the piercing arrows that are shot right at you, especially when you can’t see them coming and they blindside you!
A~ Today I feel like I’ve been shot at with arrows, not by a stranger, but by a loved one. It hurts.
P~ Father, help! What do I do in this moment of being shot at? Where are You? How do I show love in this situation? I’m really overwhelmed and need Your protection and guidance! I pray this in Jesus’ Name! Amen!
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He Sees Everything! | Michelle Myers
S~ “He sees what people do; he keeps his eye on them.” Psalm 11:4 (NCV)
O~ God sees everything. People can hide their thoughts, actions, motives, and heart from others, but not from God.
A~ I am not going to lie and say that my thoughts, actions, motives, or even heart are always right. Yet, I do have a deep desire for them to be. I do care if I hurt other peoples feelings. I do care if my actions have been wrong. I do care if my motives are not pure. I do care if my heart is sick.
I have encountered many people, who quite frankly, don’t care. Some of them are just random acquaintances. Some of them are relatives. Regardless of who they are, I used to get so upset and confused by their behavior. It would appear to be right in public for others to see, but behind closed doors, it was the opposite. I used to feel that they were “getting away” with something that was wrong.
I now understand that they are not getting away with anything. The world might not see their bad behavior or sick heart, but God does. It is my job to keep moving forward, regardless of what other’s do, and it is God’s job to deal with them.
P~ Thank you God for your mercy when I do get it wrong. Help remind me that it is not my job to seek justice. That battle belongs to you. Help me see where my motives, actions, and heart are not right.
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You in all I do | Luisa Penaherrera
S~ But Jesus said, “It must be done, because we must do everything that is right.” So then John baptized Him. Matthew 3:15(NLT)
O~ When Jesus came to John to be baptized, John said (vs 14) that he was the one who needs to be baptized by Jesus. And Jesus answered him “it must be done, because we must do everything that is right”. The New International Version (NIV) says “we must carry out all that God requires.”
Jesus was (and is) the Son of God and was sinless. When he came to earth in human form he went to John to get baptized. John was baptizing people when they confessed their sins (vs 6).
The notes in my bible say:
“Jesus, the perfect man, didn’t need baptism for sin, but he accepted baptism in obedient service to the Father, and God showed his approval.”
A~ I should do this because…are my thoughts. Jesus says, I must do what is right. He did everything the Father wanted him to. That’s what is right. I know I do not come close to the life that Jesus lived. I do want to do what is right. As close as I can, I want to be obedient in my life to what God wants to accomplish.
P~ Heavenly Father, thank you for Jesus. Thank you Jesus for giving your life for my sins. Help me to follow in your footsteps and live obedient to what God wants. Thank you for your love for me. I love you.
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Humbly Submitted | Kelley DeAses
S~ “Jesus replied, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then John consented.” Matthew 3:15 (NIV)
O~ Because John the Baptist appreciated more fully than probably any other contemporary of Jesus who He really was, John felt ill-equipped to baptize His Savior, the Christ. But Jesus was so submitted to the will of His Father that He did just what God asked of Him at all times. Every move He made during His time on earth, to include getting baptized and all the way up to His torturous and agonizing death on that cross, were done in complete humility “to fulfill all righteousness.” And after He came up from the water, the very heavens opened up as The Father spoke of His love and great pleasure with His Son.
A~ God’s ways are higher and better than mine. And yet I have a thousand excuses for not consulting Him or submitting to Him when I think I’d rather take the wheel. Jesus is the perfect example of perfect submission. Even though He had all power and full authority to assert His own agenda, He chose not to, but instead to do only as The Father directed.
P~ Thank You Lord Jesus! If You had chosen, out of your humanness, not to do The Father’s will, I would be lost. We all would be lost. Thank You for your perfect model of submission and a fully surrendered life.
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Tomorrow’s reading: 1 Samuel 19; 1 Chronicles 7; Psalm 59; Matthew 4
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