Post by Veta Bowers on Feb 19, 2007 10:35:27 GMT -5
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This is a daily devotional written by Oswald Chambers. There is a different one for every day, so click on this link every time you come here to do what people call a devotional.
A devotional can be easily defined as your quiet time with God. Christianity as we live it is not a religion but a relationship with God, your Creator, and Jesus Christ, your Savior. To build any relationship, you have to spend time with that person in communication. One side of the communication is talking to God. Even though He already knows, it never hurts to tell Him things like how your day is going and what you are feeling. Don't be afraid to ask Him for help, for He is not only your friend but your father, your Holy Father who loves you more than your earthly father and has all the power to fix what you need fixed and do what you need done. The other side to communication is listening. How do you hear God? Most of the time He is the "still, small voice" guiding us along. But most of the time, we will not hear Him audibly or in our minds, and even before we can begin to hear Him that way, we have to practice. Thus, a big part of devotions is reading. You could choose to only read scripture, slowly working your way through it, or you could do what most people do and have a book or web site that gives you scripture to read, then a paragraph or so about how to apply it.
This devotional is quite short, but it can also be hard to swallow so you may want to read it more than once. There will be a small verse at the top and usually it tells you other scriptures as reference or as something to read within the text. I would encourage you as you do this to follow these steps:
1. Pray. This can be in any manner of prayer, but my suggestion is to first praise God and thank Him for the day, then tell Him of any needs, then ask for guidance and wisdom as you attempt to listen to Him.
2. Read the devotional that you will find when you follow the above link. You may want to read it or parts of it a few times and pray more to fully understand the thoughts and how to apply them. Remember, this is the thoughts of one theologian, you are free to disagree or agree. See if you want to apply that way of thinking to yourself.
3. Find in your Bible the scripture referenced at the top. Read it and several verses surrounding it to understand the verse and ts context. You may want to think of whether Chambers used the Scripture correctly in context. You may want to read the whole chapter or even the book, or begin studying that book carefully over time. You may have questions about it. You may want to read your Bible's commentaries on the verses if there are any or find a commentary in print or online to further examine the word. You may want to do the same with other scriptures referenced in the text.
4. Pray again. Thank God for being able to spend time in His presence and talk to Him about what you learned and ask Him to help you apply it.
If you have comments or questions on it, feel free to post them here. I will try to address all of them, and of course you are all free to help each other out.
Love,
Veta
This is a daily devotional written by Oswald Chambers. There is a different one for every day, so click on this link every time you come here to do what people call a devotional.
A devotional can be easily defined as your quiet time with God. Christianity as we live it is not a religion but a relationship with God, your Creator, and Jesus Christ, your Savior. To build any relationship, you have to spend time with that person in communication. One side of the communication is talking to God. Even though He already knows, it never hurts to tell Him things like how your day is going and what you are feeling. Don't be afraid to ask Him for help, for He is not only your friend but your father, your Holy Father who loves you more than your earthly father and has all the power to fix what you need fixed and do what you need done. The other side to communication is listening. How do you hear God? Most of the time He is the "still, small voice" guiding us along. But most of the time, we will not hear Him audibly or in our minds, and even before we can begin to hear Him that way, we have to practice. Thus, a big part of devotions is reading. You could choose to only read scripture, slowly working your way through it, or you could do what most people do and have a book or web site that gives you scripture to read, then a paragraph or so about how to apply it.
This devotional is quite short, but it can also be hard to swallow so you may want to read it more than once. There will be a small verse at the top and usually it tells you other scriptures as reference or as something to read within the text. I would encourage you as you do this to follow these steps:
1. Pray. This can be in any manner of prayer, but my suggestion is to first praise God and thank Him for the day, then tell Him of any needs, then ask for guidance and wisdom as you attempt to listen to Him.
2. Read the devotional that you will find when you follow the above link. You may want to read it or parts of it a few times and pray more to fully understand the thoughts and how to apply them. Remember, this is the thoughts of one theologian, you are free to disagree or agree. See if you want to apply that way of thinking to yourself.
3. Find in your Bible the scripture referenced at the top. Read it and several verses surrounding it to understand the verse and ts context. You may want to think of whether Chambers used the Scripture correctly in context. You may want to read the whole chapter or even the book, or begin studying that book carefully over time. You may have questions about it. You may want to read your Bible's commentaries on the verses if there are any or find a commentary in print or online to further examine the word. You may want to do the same with other scriptures referenced in the text.
4. Pray again. Thank God for being able to spend time in His presence and talk to Him about what you learned and ask Him to help you apply it.
If you have comments or questions on it, feel free to post them here. I will try to address all of them, and of course you are all free to help each other out.
Love,
Veta