If I'm honest, then I must admit that I don't always do well with my "devotional life." I have plenty of devotion books and I've written/edited a few devotion books for others to use, yet I have struggled to have a daily devotion ever since college. I've gone through periods when I've been very diligent with my reading, praying, and writing...and then I've gone through of not.
While I have long moved past the guilt of not having a daily devotion--which is what drove me to do a daily devotion in high school and college--I have recently felt a deep longing to make an intentional effort to return to the daily devotion. While I spend all day, every day, talking to God and making efforts to be silent and listen to God, I yearn to know God more and to sense more of how God's spirit is working in my life, this ministry, and beyond.
A few weeks ago, I asked a good friend of mine if she'd be willing to read and discuss a devotion book with me. She said she would. We selected a devotion book called, "Jesus Calling," by Sarah Young. The devotions in this book are written from Jesus' point of view, and they come from Young's personal devotion times of listening to God with pen in hand. The devotions are meant to be read slowly, preferably in a quiet place...and they're so short that they can easily be read multiple times in order to let God's spirit speak.
It's odd how the Spirit speaks, too--how one sentence or phrase jumps out at me while another sentence or phrase jumpt out at my friend--or how we can each receive completely different meanings from the text even though we've heard the exact same words. But the Spirit is speaking and I have been blessed and challenged as I've been on this journey back into a devotional life that will take me deeper into Christ.
Here are a few of the sentences that have spoken to me:
When your focus is broad enough to include me in your thoughts, you feel safe and complete. When your perception narrows so that problems or details fill your consciousness, you feel empty and incomplete. Learn to look steadily at Me in all your moments and all your circumstances. Though the world is unstable and in flux, you can experience continuity through your uninterrupted awareness of my Presence.
Your needs and my riches are a perfect fit. I never meant for you to be self-sufficient.
Be willing to go out on a limb with me. If that is where I am leading you, then it is the safest place to be...If your primary focus is on me, you can walk along perilous paths without being afraid. Eventually, you will learn to relax and enjoy the adventure of our journey together.
I, the Creator of the universe, have deigned to co-create with you. Do not try to hurry this process...Hurry is not in my nature.
As you focus your mind and heart on me, you are being transformed: re-created into the one I designed you to be.
Rest in me, my child, forgetting about the worries of the world. Focus on me--Emmanuel--and let my living presence envelop you in Peace.
I am speaking in the depths of your being. Be still, so that you can hear my voice. I speak in the language of Love; My words fill you with Life and Peace, Joy and Hope.
What about you? Do you struggle to have an active devotional life, or is your devotional life a lifeline to your spiritual health? If the latter, what devotion book(s) do you use? If the former, what do you find to be your greatest struggle?
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