Pastor Bob DuPar
September 26, 2008

Journal Entry



Scripture

Isaiah 48:12-50:11; Ephesians 4:17-32; Psalm 69:1-18; Proverbs 24:5-6

Observation

“Listen to Me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am He; I am the first and I am the last. …This is what the Lord says – your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: ‘I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.” Isaiah 48:12, 17

“…You must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.” Ephesians 4:17-19

“In your anger do not sin’: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” Ephesians 4:26-27

Application

God teaches me what is best for me and directs me in the way in which I should go, but how consistently do I trust that He knows what is best for me? I display my trust in God as I obey His Word. My disobedience is blatant distrust in God; it is evidence that I think I know better than God.

Sin separates me from the life God offers. It hardens my heart, makes me insensitive to moral and spiritual boundaries; and ultimately creates within me an insatiable appetite and lust for more.

I have let the sun go down upon my anger too many times. I don’t want to give Satan a foothold anymore!

Prayer

“Lord, please kill my appetite for sin. Help me to trust Your will and Your kind intentions for me. Help me to demonstrate this trust by how I live.”