The Word of God by Jenna Vick Silliman

Oh how I LOVE Your Word, O Lord! (Psalm 119:97) I awaken before dawn, go to a place where we can be alone and I pray there. (Mark 1:35) In the morning I cry out to You with my voice. (Psalm 5:3) Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of Your Word! (Psalm 119:18) Lord Jesus, God, You are the living Word. (John 1:1) My expectations are in You. (Psalm 62:5) I am satisfied with Your goodness. (Jer. 31:14) When I read two pages of Your Word each morning I wait for You to speak to me for I have ears to hear. (Matthew 11:15) I know Your Word becomes ‘rhema’ enlightenment for me in my relationship with You. I know there is no life in the Scriptures apart from relationship with You. (John 5:39) If I abide in Your Word and possess it I am truly Your disciple. (John 8:31) I know the Truth and the Truth has set me free. (John 8:32) I delight in Your promise that if I continue to abide in You and Your Word continues to abide in me, I may ask whatever I will and it shall be done for me. (John 15:7) In Your Word we are given many great and precious promises that we might be partakers of Your divine nature. (2Peter 1:4) I meditate on Your Word all day. (Psalm 119:97) It is a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105) It revives me. (Psalm 119:159) I let Your Word dwell in me richly. (Col. 3:16) I have hidden Your Word in my heart. (Psalm 119:11) You have put Your Word in my mouth. (Isaiah 51:16) When I speak Your Word it does not come back void. (Isaiah 55:11) It endures forever. (1Peter 1:25) Like the Bereans, I search the Scriptures daily, to see whether things are true. (Acts 17:11) I know every Scripture is inspired by You and profitable for instruction, for reproof, for correction of error, for discipline in obedience to You, and for training in holy living so that we may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16,17) I want to be like Apollos—well versed and mighty in the Scriptures, instructed in Your way, O Lord, burning with spiritual zeal, teaching from the Scriptures accurately and speaking freely and fearlessly. (Acts 18:24-26) I meditate on Your Word day and night and habitually continue to think about it, and, as You have promised, I have become like a tree firmly planted by streams of living water and my leaves do not wither, even in times of drought, and I am steadfast in times of storm. By Your Word, I am prospering and flourishing! (Psalm 1) Your Word is perfect and makes my heart rejoice…Your Word is pure and bright, enlightening my eyes. Your Word is sweeter than honey and the honeycomb—better than dessert! (Psalm 19:7-11) I take heed, also, to the prophetic Word, confirmed by Scripture, as a light that shines in the darkness. (2Peter 1:19) I rejoice in Your Word, O God, as one who finds great treasure. (Psalm 119:162)

Bill Gates might make a great Sunday School teacher...

Over the years, daily devotionals have been a struggled issue for yours truly. Not only do I understand the importance to me spiritually of spending a few minutes daily in God's word, I'm constantly reminding the young people at church how crucial that time is within their own spiritual walk.

So why is it sometimes such a struggle?

The paradox of free will is that the exercise of choice is very much separate from the state of intelligent, educated conscience. For example- I know that my post-40 physical being is much more fragile than my younger time-framed body, yet I continue to consume the traditional Southern foods known to be unhealthy for me (we deep-fry everything). My choice under free will despite the probable conclusions of medical consequence. Why?

I firmly believe we are creatures of habit. There's a good blog series on Psychology Today's website from a strictly secular viewpoint (of course) on the subject matter. Very insightful and very applicable to your spiritual life as well. It really boils down though to self-discipline, and spending time daily in a devotional is no different from spending time daily in prayer or reflection.

Still I struggle...

15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.   2 Corinthians 4:15-18 (New International Version)

Paul's letter to Corinth points to the treasure in jars of clay that God bestows upon us,  the light of knowledge that can only come from Him through Christ. I cannot lean upon my own understand to break free of old habits...I need God's help.

That may seem like a vicious circle going nowhere to some of you. It did to me at a point in my own life until I let the arrogance associated with my own knowledge be humbled by the true power of an almighty God. I began to pray for strength, humility and perseverance...and God answered. Believe me, it wasn't the answer I was expecting (or even wanted), but I did get an answer.

So how do I tackle the daily devotional issue today? I touched on my efforts a few weeks back in a post about the creative ways I spend time with God daily. I spend a lot of time each day, seven days a week, in front of my computer's screen. What better place to incorporate my spiritual disciplines into my daily routine. Praying and spending time with God daily wasn't a problem for me, but I would often forget prayer request from others (a matter I take very serious) and then there were daily devotionals.

Low and behold...the Age of Information (per God) provided! Now I keep a couple of widget on my desktop that I see each and every day. One is a constantly changing prayer list I can update from my Blackberry any time, any where, and the other is a widget from Bible Gateway that updates to a new Scripture daily. Another prayer answered!   

Of course, it's still up to me to spend a few minutes reflecting on the verse(s) and applying them to my own real life situations...but the widget has made it so easy to get started, I feel guilty when I don't follow through. That habit thing works both ways you know...  

 

 

A little Word goes a long way

God is my everything and I find my heart often on Him. Find myself praying frequently, or just whispering thanks throughout the day.

But my head is a problem. I constantly have to work to keep my mind renewed to God's ways instead of my selfishness. One simple way I do this is to take a few moments to read from the Bible each morning.

For me, this puts life for that day into perspective.

As I mentioned the other day when we were talking here at Kingdom Bloggers about our devotions , I often will find myself reading the same verses for a few days. It's like it takes a while for it to sink in deep. Then there will come a point when I feel a release to move on. I find that those verses I meditate on for a bit each morning become apart of how I think, how I approach situations in my life.

I'm so grateful for the Word. I never cease to be amazed at how relevant it is. Never cease to be amazed at how God's spirit opens up familiar passages to me in a new light as I look to Him.

Have Passion

I could probably just write "ditto" to David's blog yesterday and that would pretty much sum it up.  Like David, my daily devotions aren't really daily.  I've gone through periods of some serious devotion where I do the Daily Office.  I hope and plan to do that for Lent this year.  It's a good discipline.

David used the analogy of his relationship with his wife yesterday.  I think that's better than the analogy I was thinking of but I'll share mine anyway.  I don't have the best eating habits.  I sort of grab food on the run.  It's not the best for my health or digestion.  My husband on the other hand is very disciplined.  He eats by the clock.  I eat when I can and when I'm hungry.

I don't eat breakfast until I am hungry which is usually 3-4 hours after I get up.  I've already drank a pot of coffee.  Often lunch and breakfast sort of merge together.  If I didn't have to fix supper for both of us, I may or may not eat it.  I might eat a late "lunch" at 4 p.m. and then a snack before bed.  Or I might not eat lunch and grab supper at 6 p.m.

My husband on the other hand has to have breakfast.  Usually it is oatmeal on week days and eggbeater omelets on the weekend.  He always eats lunch.  Supper time is pretty fixed at 6-6:30 p.m.  There is little divergence and when there is, he gets grouchy.

It's sort of the same with our daily devotions and spiritual discipline.  I am a lot like David.  My mind is on the Lord most of the time.  I often put on the music and worship.  When I get on my exercise bike, I jam with Jesus.  I might catch some prayer time in the car.  There's little order or discipline to my daily devotions.

My husband on the other hand gets up every morning and before that bowl of oatmeal, he spends about 20 minutes praying and reading.  NOTHING would stop him from this ritual.  It is downright annoying at times because there is no such thing as hurry up and let's go.  Poor man has to have a good hour and half to get ready in the morning.  It doesn't matter if we have to catch a plane and be at the airport at 4:30 a.m. or if we have a leisurely morning - he's going to pray and read before he does anything.

Sometimes I feel bad about my undisciplined ways.  I think I should be more disciplined.  I think I should be more like my husband.  Maybe it is a cop out or an excuse for laziness but it's just how I am.  I honestly think if more of us were honest, we'd tell each other that while we love the Lord and have constant communication with Him, we just aren't too good with the daily devotions.

I think it would be good to take the condemnation out of relationship with Jesus.  Relationship isn't always about rules and rituals.  If my very ritualistic husband were to tell me I had a half hour every morning for his attention and that was all I could have for the day, that wouldn't be much of a relationship.

If you are someone who is very disciplined in your devotions, please don't stop.  It's probably just how God made you to be.  But if you are like me and could use a little more discipline, worship and pray and read when you can, where you can, and as often as you can.  Pursue Jesus with passion without guilt.

Time is the Currency of Relationship

Looking out over the Hudson River, the hardwoods ablaze with color, crisp fall air gently pushing back the warmth of the sun on the veranda, I connected with God. It was such a beautiful afternoon. We went in for dinner and one of the monks read from the Screwtape Letters. After Vespers, I lay in bed reading the Bible by the light of a small lamp and fell off to asleep.

I awoke to a knock at the Abby door. "I trust you slept well, sir. The Lord be with you."

"And also with you." I replied. I lay there thinking about what sort of devotion these monks had to their Lord Jesus. The Spirit of God was so gentle, so inviting, that I nearly missed morning communion. Maybe if I spent more time in devotions, I thought...

This week the faithful are going to talk about what their daily devotions look like. I am sure that we are no more pious than than the average believer - we shall soon see. If you missed our series on Creative Ways to Spend Time with God, check out some of the posts.

If you've been following along either on Kingdom Bloggers, or Fire & Grace, you know that I am not a typical Christian. I assure you there are many molds that I don't fit in.

I guess I would like to start by saying what I don't do. I don't have a set prayer time, I don't have set Bible reading time, and I don't have a regular fellowship. I am sure that I would be the target of a sermon during Lenten devotions. I work 9 hours a day plus two more hours commuting each weekday. I go to the gym twice a week. And on the weekends I like to relax.

Sad, maybe even pathetic, huh?

Interestingly I spend a lot of time with the Lord each day. Except for the commuting where I am spending  my spiritual currency by the handful, and the gym where all I can think of is pain, I have a lot of contact with Jesus. Some days I am up early enough to pray. As soon as I get to work, I turn on soaking music, and at the end of a day at the office, my spirit is alive. I pray a lot while I am doing my work. I enjoy praying in the spirit.

Each night I play my guitar, and use the music to commune with God too. Certain types of music are very meditative for me. It is even possible to prophesy with an instrument, and every so often, I do. (1 Chronicles 25:1)

On Saturday morning I get up and head downstairs to my home-office with a cup of fresh brewed coffee, where I write one or more blogs. (I do four a week). Each Sunday I have about an hours ride to church, and I pray all the the way there. I often pray on the way home too.

When it comes to reading the Bible, between blogging, teaching and writing a book, I do probably a dozen word searches a day, plus I look things up in Greek and Hebrew. I confess I rely on 35 years of past teaching, books, tapes, sermons, Christian Radio and my favorite, the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

I think of daily devotions like I do my marriage to Mary Anne. I plan a few times to be with my wife each week, but more often, I catch her in between the rest of my life. Because I desire to be with her, and she with me, we make the most of a quiet moment in the kitchen, a goodbye kiss, a text message, a phone call or holding hands while watching the news. I don't have a perfect marriage, and I don't have a perfect relationship with Jesus.

I guess in the end, the Lord is on my heart almost every waking hour. I don't know what I would do if I had a job where I couldn't listen to Christian music, but I can always pray wherever I am.

I did a little study of how I spend my own time - sobering.

How about you, are you able to carve out a daily routine with Jesus, or are you like me where you fit him in around everything else?