Devotional Life

Well every week the students in the TC have unique assignments to do and this week we had to write a less than one page paper on our devotional life. For most of you who know me, it is extremely hard for me to condense my thoughts to simply one page. But here it is:

DEVOTIONAL LIFE EXPERIENCE PAPER

Question: Describe your devotional life and how it affects your lifestyle 24/7?

1) THERE IS NO PERFECT WAY TO DO A QUIET TIME
Years of my devotional life were wasted as I was unaware of a need to commune daily with God or even how to do a devotional time with God. In fact, up to my sophomore year in high school, I didn’t even know that God called me to commune with Him daily or that I even needed to open a Bible apart from Sunday. Sure, I thought that as long as I went to church and was nice to people that I didn’t need anything else. Wow, was I wrong. However, when I finally discovered that God desires for me to offer my body as a living sacrifice of worship (Romans 12:1), to meditate day and night on His Word (Psalms 1, 119), to set my heart on things above (Colossians 3:1-3), to think and dwell upon holy things (Philippians 4:8), to pray continually (I Thessalonians 5:17), and much more, I was definitely uninformed of where to start. I wanted to have what people called “quiet times”, but I never knew how to do it the right way. I embarked on my journey by a process of trial and error to find a “perfect” method. I would try to emulate a Godly role model or pastor. I would read a book that I thought would give me the answer. However, through much inquisition and searching, I discovered that there is no right way to do a quiet time. The goal is simply to love Christ more as I passionately pursue Him daily through His Word (the revelation of God), prayer, mediation, memorization, fasting, singing, reading, journaling, or etc. This liberated my quiet times and freed me up to not worry about rigid form, but to focus on loving Christ as one who pants after God (Psalm 42:1).

2) COMMUNE WITH GOD, LOVE CHRIST, RELY ON THE SPIRIT, AND DON’T JUST TRY TO GAIN KNOWLEDGE!
One error that I continually have to confess to God is my dog gone pharisaical pursuit of knowledge and not Christ. Through my devotional times, it is so easy for me to slip back into the habit of trying to simply learn theology or gain knowledge instead of truly desiring to know Christ more, in a life changing way. It is so easy for me to simply be content with learning one knew fact about God. In fact, this is probably a weekly if not daily battle for me! In my own devotional life I have to continually remind myself that I am spending time alone with God in order to love Him more, that I might put Him first in every aspect of my life, and apply a truth from Scripture that will change the way I live my life that day. I have found that this can only be done as I rely on the Spirit daily to show me how to study, what spiritual discipline to pursue, and how I should most purposefully and passionately follow my Savior Jesus Christ.

3) I JOURNAL, READ, PRAY, MEMORIZE, MEDITATE, SING AND ETC
Just because I do not think there is one right way to have a devotional life does not mean that there aren't some wise starters. For one, I think it is necessary to daily pursue God. I usually like to have a book of the Bible to study in a systematic way. Normally, I study through a book that I need at the time. For instance, a while back I was struggling with legalism so I went through Galatians. Last month I went through a Proverb a day. This month I am going through the gospel of John. I also like to record books or chapters of the Bible to a made up song that I might memorize them in my car or at my computer. Last year I memorized I Peter with some friends, this last summer I memorized most of Psalm 119, and this next year I will be memorizing Colossians with a group of friends. Journaling is another way for me to commune with God. Sometimes, I’ll just write out prayers to God, other times I will write notes of what I’m learning in the Word and how I desire to apply them that day.

4) I LIVE LIFE AND APPLY WHAT I AM LEARNING
The biggest way my devotional life affects what I do 24/7 is simply by living in the world. I am continually bombarded with new opportunities to apply what I’m learning as I interact with non-believers in the work place, people in my family, or junior high students that I am shepherding. Truly God is faithful to me, and I am so thankful that the Spirit helps me to apply what I am learning. Yet, I know that there is much for me to grow in, and I am so grateful that God is not finished with me yet!

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Well, that was all I could cram into one page, but let me tell you there is a lot more! I am grateful that God has given us His written Word and that He has given us the Holy Spirit who now indwells our heart to make us more conformed to the image of Christ. God is truly awesome and to grow in Him daily is such a joy!