You are in the last days. ​

These are called “perilous times” in the Bible. If you need to feel less anxiety, pessimism, stress, and have a better overall feeling of being content, positive, capable, and fulfilled, there are two actions you can take now.

 

FIRST, get your Daily in the Word notebook, and a few minutes to write about times you have been faithful. 

 

Recall those times when the Lord would have said, “Well done,” because you put some biblical principles into practice, or were a testimony, or made the right choice, etc. 

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Why Should I Write about My Faithful Times? 

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1. Recalling your faithfulness leads to more faithful choices and reactions, which, in turn, produce more faithful experiences, and those experiences reinforce more faithfulness, so that over weeks and months, the results compound and accumulate.

 

2. Because the Apostle Paul often mentioned what He had done for the Lord. He wrote...For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God. 1st Thessalonians 2:9

 

And, For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you; Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you: 2nd  Thessalonians 3:7-8

 

3. Because Satan is a constant accuser of you and to you.

 

4. Because, yes, you, we all fail at times, but there were times when you were faithful.

 

5. Because this discipleship journaling helps you live intentionally rather than on autopilot. 

 

How? As you write about times of your faithfulness, the next time you are in a situation where you are faced with being faithful or not, you’ll consider what you’ve written.

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How often should I write?​

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Take a moment to write about an experience now. Then continue weekly, every few weeks, or as needed during these perilous times.

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Is it OK to think well of myself?

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Writing about times of your faithfulness is not about pride, but about maturity and right self-judgment. The Bible says, …examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves … 2nd Corinthians 13:5. 

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You can see that you are to have a proper, balanced view of what you think of yourself from James 2:8: If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well:

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Jesus said…Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. Luke 10:27

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You should have a good view of yourself because you are valuable and loved by God. He gave Himself to save you to bring you into His family.

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The Bible says, And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 1st John 4:16

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For you, as a Christian, this is not “praise me and look what I’ve done,” but rather, “thank you, God, for helping me and working with me.”

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It’s a balance. If you love yourself too much, you can become an “enemy of the cross.”

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The Bible says, (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) Philippians 3:18-19

 

The SECOND discipleship journaling action you can take is to use the Guided Reflection ideas below.

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The word “remember” is used nineteen times in every book written to New Testament Christians from 1st Corinthians to 2nd Timothy. Why? It is too easy to forget what you need to remember.

 

The Bible says, My soul shall be satisfied…and my mouth shall praise thee…When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. Psalm 63:6

 

And…the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 2nd Corinthians 10:4-5

 

Ideas for writing are in the file.

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