5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.
2 Corinthians 13:5 [NKJV]
Let’s Begin Today with Gratitude & Appreciation
Let me start by saying how grateful 🙏 I am feeling today. Firstly, I will be meeting my new employer this afternoon to collect the MacBook that I will be using for my new job. This is honestly a major thing for me (when you consider the context of everything I had to endure and do to get to this milestone). This is the start of something new, a new stage of my professional journey. While I am unable to celebrate it with a nice meal, or treat myself to something nice; I will celebrate this moment quietly in my heart & in my soul.
To add to the positive news, my current boss for the temp QA job has decided to approve a full payment of the remaining balance of my part-time salary. It was initially supposed to be a weekly payment, but with everything that is happening, he told the finance staff to approve a full payment. That means that I will be able to receive $562.50 by tomorrow evening.
I am also very grateful that I have made a second truly genuine/authentic friend. It’s through my reaching out to him for help that I discovered that we had so much in common and that our values and beliefs share many crucial overlaps. The ones that truly matter. And so, over the weekend I suggested that when I get to a better place in my life (financially speaking), we could finally meet in person and share a meal together. And yes, according to him, he will be sending me some funds later today which would really help me with overcoming my current financial challenges.
Remembering My Lessons During the Better Times
Truth is, things aren’t really that much better yet. But yes, my situation is gradually improving. But it’s not to a point where I can truly say that things are finally better. That is still perhaps a few months away. For now, I still haven’t overcome many of my immediately difficulties.
That is where I want to begin today’s daily bread reflections. It’s always easier to do a daily self-check of ourselves during challenging times in our lives because we are constantly being reminded of what we’re facing and the lessons that we had picked up recently. So yeah, these days, I think about all my lessons every single day. Everything in my life right now is a reminder of all of my mistakes & failures (hence lessons). It’s always front and center in my head, constantly keeping me in check.
But what happens when times get better? I think that is my greatest fear. I fear that when things get better and easier, that I might become complacent and forget my lessons. That is the last thing I ever want to let happen. So I have to find a way to keep my lessons front-and-center even when times become better. It’s good that I still have some time to figure out the best way to do this.
Doing a Daily Check-up
When was the last time that you did a health check-up? Now, when was the last time that you actually did a spiritual health check-up? That is what today’s Bible verse is trying to remind us. Having a daily spiritual check-up is just as important as doing a regular physical check-up.
As believers/Christians, we ought to be doing this not just weekly when we go to church on a Sunday. I believe that this is something that we need to do every single day in our lives. It’s good to always check-in with God, with the Holy Spirit, with Jesus to ensure that our spiritual health is still operating at 100% every single day.
Examining How We Live & Act Everyday
The best way to examine ourselves is by examining how we live and act on a daily basis. It’s about understanding our own behaviors, actions, attitudes and how to treat other people. And I think this is where developing self-awareness is so important. It is like looking into a mirror and seeing a reflection of everything that we have said and done for that day.
One of the best ways I know how to do this is by journaling. Writing down all of our thoughts and also to recap everything that has happened during the day. That journal entry becomes our daily mirror.
This daily bread entries that I am doing right now is also a very great way to do my daily check-ups. I need them as a way to always remind myself that I am still a work-in-progress even during the better times (when they arrive). I believe that a really important part of this process is also to maintain a certain level of humility, knowing that we still have a lot to learn and room for growth. By maintaining that level of daily humility, it would help to keep us from getting complacent.
Personal Prayer for Today
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for speaking to me through Your word today. Thank You for reminding me about the importance of finding a way to remind myself of all my lessons (wisdom) even when the situation in my life improves and gets better eventually.
I am also very grateful for being able to remain disciplined with this daily bread lifestyle because because it also serves as a daily spiritual check-up for me. It is a great way to remind myself to be humble and also that I am still a constant work-in-progress, even when the times get better eventually.
I will continue to stay disciplined and focused on both my daily bread series as well as doing my own private journal entries. Because I want to keep myself from getting complacent. And I pray that the Holy Spirit will help me with this on a daily basis too.
I pray and ask all of this in Jesus name.
Amen.
shermannatrix 
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