Devotional Life My Devotional Life

Devotional Life

My Devotional Life

A devotional life will go through seasons

Times of great joy and excitement

And times when it is dark and you feel all alone

A devotional life is loyal no matter the season

Jesus said

My God, My God why have you forsaken me?

And then said, Father into your hands I commit my Spirit

Jesus, like you and I, saw God in His Glory

He also saw the darkest of times and felt rejected 

But Jesus kept the faith

He kept loyal in all seasons

My Devotional Life

I have been blessed

from the time I was born.

My Dad was attending Piedmont

Bible Collage when I was born.

You might say I went straight

from the hospital nursery to seminary.

I have always known the Lord.

The Lord was always

my closest and best friend.

I remember the Sunday School

stories on the flannel graph boards…

The hymns and the preachers preaching.

But my most memorable memories

was the feeling of God with me.

It is His presence in my

life that I loved the most.

I remember as a boy giving my life to Him…

 A commitment to go where ever

He wanted me to go and do whatever

He wanted me to do and say

whatever He wanted me to say.

I remember God calling me to serve Him…

 Although my ideas of whatthat looked
like is were very different than His.

I thought I was God’s favorite.

As I got older, I saw God’s love

in others that made me jealous.

I had time where my fleshly desires caused

me to walk in shame of His shadows.

I saw God do great things and times when

He did not measure up to my expectations.

I have learned that His ways are not always

my ways because His ways are greater.

I could not read or spell when

I graduated from high school.

So reading devotionals were not easy for me.

But after I graduated from high school and got

married I had a new experience with God.

I did my best to read my Bible and study it.

It was this journey that taught me how to read.

I became an ordained elder

and started to pastor at age 19.

From that time on…

 Time in God’s Word was a time

to fill baskets for others.

I was never a book reader,

 but I did read daily devotional.

I also read through the Bible

every other year,

in different translations,

and in different reading plans.

I found “causes” helped me get into

the Word of God studying topics.

There are a lot of methods for having a daily

devotionals time and I used many of them.

I have had times when it seemed the heavens

were brass and it seemed like I did not get

anything out of my time with God.

In 2008, at age 55 while the housing bubble

collapsed and people were facing bankruptcy…

I, too, came into a spiritual

and financial bankruptcy.

My vision and dreams of God’s calling

in my life were dashed to pieces.

My life’s work at the church I pastored had ended…

And the flock I had cared for and

nurtured, I was separated from.

It was a very low time in my life and my family’s.\

I could not understand what God was doing.

With only a few exceptions, I had

always felt God’s presences in my life.

This season of darkness eclipsed any-

thing I had ever experienced before.

My faith was tested in this time

and I was crying out…

 “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?”

In this time of empty void,

 I realized I must encourage my family.

Out of deep depression I

sent emails to Sandy at work.

An email with a scripture.

Then I included some comments in the emails.

Before long I was sending them to my children, too.

They asked if they could share them with others.

Before I knew it, I had requests for the

devotionals and a list of people…

Some I did not know,

were requesting my daily devotionals.

I wrote those devotionals by faith as

I could not see the reality of God’s Word.

But as time went on…

 God magnified Himself to me again.

A devotional life will go through seasons.

Times of great joy and excitement.

And times when it is dark and you feel all alone.

A devotional life is loyal no matter the season.

Jesus said…

My God, My God why have you forsaken me?

And then said, Father into your hands I commit my Spirit.

My life has been a devotional life.

My love and loyalty to Him goes

beyond a set time to be with God.

It is my desire to have Him on my mind

every minute of the day and night.

My devotional life has caused

me to want more of Him.

It is from this journey of 67 years,

I hope to share…

 How to increase your Devotional Life with God.

 

Scripture Reading

Hebrews 13:5-6 NIV

Because God has said,

"Never will I leave you;

never will I forsake you."  

6 So we say with confidence,

"The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.

What can man do to me?"