Daily Bible Devotions - Jim's Morning Journal

There are several christian disciplines: bible reading, prayer, fellowship, worship and service. Some include more. I wanted to focus on bible readings or as they are often called daily devotions. This is part of our daily quiet time with God. It’s not a time of academic study. There are times when we would reference commentaries to find meanings. However it’s more of a time of reflecting on His Word and how it applies to us.
Jesus describes it in Revelations 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” He talks about our relationship with Him as if we were sharing a meal. This is a setting for family and friends. It may sound odd. For how can sit for a time with someone that’s invisible? By faith. It’s rarely dramatic and usually not emotional. We do it, trusting that He’s there. He will honor it by making this one of the richest times of the day. It won’t happen like that in a month or a year. As we have our time with Him, He will enrich it.
Why do we need to read the bible? 1 Peter 2:2 says, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.” Just like a baby needs milk, so the believer needs to be in God’s Word. It is our food. It feeds our spirits. This is the born again part of us that connects with God. The bible is His Word. If we want a relationship with Him, the bible is how we hear Him. It may seem dry at the moment, but He brings it to life as we go throughout our day. Particulary if we are persistent. There is a faith component, so it won’t feel awesome at the start. We need to trust that He will help us develop an appetite. God rewards our efforts. He will bring it to life and fill our lives.

What are we to read? There are many places to go. The New Testament is great. So are the Psalms and Proverbs. The first several books of the Old Testament are also good starting points (not Leviticus). An easy starting point is to read a psalm a day. There are over four months worth. These are great as they are David’s reflections on his life with God. They include his frustrations, fears, triumphs, betrayals and more. This is the kind of drama all of us experience. This is a great model as to how we relate to God. Mix in some New Testament books to get the feel and direction from God’s newer plan.

Our attitude affects how God’s Word feeds us. Jesus delivered the Parable of the Sower in Mark 4. He says the Word of God is like seed. It takes root in our hearts. He describes four types of soil: rocky, weeds, on the road and healty soil. The rocky soil was shallow and didn’t allow for deep roots. Difficult times destroys the Word there. The weed-filled soil is the heart that is filled with the cares of the world. We all have this. Our preoccupation with life and drama crowds out the Word. We forget about it. That’s why our times in the Word need to be regular. They allow us to recharge. Otherwise the weeds cause us to forget. The seeds that fell on the pathway were snatched up by the birds. Jesus says this is the devil removing it. This is scary. The evil ones are so worried about us growing in Christ that they will sabatoge it. We are so important to God and the devil hates God, so the devil and his demons hate us. This is how he attempts to lure us away or just to make us ineffective. The last soil is the healthy one. The only reason it’s healthy is because it’s tended to by regular bible readings. That is like our time in the garden.
Open the time with Him in prayer. Asking Him to meet with us and further asking that He will open our eyes to His Word. We can pray this confidently as this is the very thing that He wants. Remember the father of the Prodigal Son. He waited and watched daily for his son to return. God wants to meet with us. He will bless these times. Know that the devil with attempt to distract and keep us away. He wants us to be disconnected and malnurished. He will go to great lengths to keep this from being a habit. Persevere and it will become great times of enrichment.
Lord, help us to meet with You in our daily bible readings. Help those times become rich as we meet with You.