The Devotion Journal
The Devotion Journal
Romans 12:2
Thanks for joining us today. The title of today's devotion is the Devotion Journal. This is an instructional episode. Recently, I did a devotion called "The Reset Episode” where I kind of reset the focus on a devotional approach that we've been using for over 10 years to help people learn to really meet God during their devotional time.
And in that devotion, we reviewed the three words that we've been using for all these years to help people develop this this truly meaningful approach to their devotion time with God. This approach is based on these three words.
Meditate. Apply. Respond. That's it. If you review that devotion (The Reset Episode), you can get a little more of my heart on why we're doing this and why I'm trying so hard to make this work for you.
But what I didn't tell you about in The Reset Episode is we actually have written instructions on the Daily Devotion Journal page that you can download and print to use in your devotion time. So, this approach to meeting God is powerful, and it's especially powerful when you take the time to write down your interactions with God in a journal or on a journal page.
If you were to make time, to get alone with God and to sit and to even write your interactions with God, I can assure you that the impact of your time with God would greatly increase.
So, here is the link to the Daily Devotional Journal and the instructions on how to use it. But what I'd like to do right now is just walk you through the instructions for the Daily Devotion Journal so that you can kind of get a feel for it and hopefully maybe be inspired to consider using this simple journal approach to your devotion time.
All right. Let's do that. There may be nothing more powerful in our Christian life than spending quiet, interactive time with God in his Word on a regular basis. This is where God's Word comes alive to us. This is where we hear God speak to us and where we find ourselves in a place that we can respond to him. These moments transform us by renewing our mind through God's Word, immersed in God's Spirit.
So, the Daily Devotion Journal is designed to help you during this crucial time when you're purposefully meeting with God in his Word and in prayer. You can download and print the Daily Devotion Journal and you can write your scripture for this devotion at the top of that page, and then pray. Pray. Slow down. Pray that God would make your heart ready to hear from him, shut out everything else, and get alone with God.
Next, Meditate. Meditate on this scripture, read it slowly, read it carefully, read it repeatedly, asking God to speak to you through his Word. And you should check surrounding verses if you need to, to help you understand the context. You stay in that and then kind of begin to pray the scripture for your life while you're meditating on it. Start to turn it into something personal from God to you.
And then, what we encourage you to do on a Devotion Journal page is write this scripture out, kind of personalizing it in your own words. I don't think it does a lot of good to kind of mechanically copy the scripture, but instead, write it as if God is speaking directly directly to you – because he is. But do it without changing what the scripture says, okay? Don't insert your own theology. But while you're writing what God's Word says, allow his Word to sink into your heart. Write slowly and kind of take in the words as you're writing. That's after meditation.
Next, you're ready to Apply the scripture to your life. And so, when you do this, when you apply this scripture to your life, be personal. Be specific. Apply the scripture in your life in writing. Write down what the Holy Spirit is addressing in your life through this scripture. Just ask God. “God reveal to me where these verses apply to my life today.” And then write it down. And it takes a little courage to do this. How do these words specifically apply to your life today? Be honest with God. Be real with God.
And this is this is the last step. Decide what you're going to do today in Response to this scripture. Maybe it's taking physical action on something. Maybe it's taking your thoughts captive. Maybe it's choosing to respond in your heart according to God's Word. The final step before you close in prayer is how are you going to respond to this scripture today and then write that down.
And then finally, to finish your time, write out a Prayer to God in response to how he's met you in this scripture, in his Word, and make your commitment to God. Thank him for speaking to you through his Word in writing and by writing out your prayer.
So that's it. You Meditate, Apply, Respond. And you Pray on both sides of it.
And that's it. And listen, if you can't write, if you can't find the place or time or if you're not able to write out your response, you can still interact with God and I pray that you would. I'm not saying you have to be sitting in a place and writing. I'm just telling you we've seen God do really powerful things when people make that commitment. So, if you can't then you just interact with God in your heart as I go through the scripture.
So now finally, the question is, where are you going to get the scripture to put on the top of your journal page? Where do you get the scripture to use with it? Again, we want to supply that for you so you can go to MyDailyChurch.com and click on the Scripture By Topic link. And right there, you're going to find scripture on a whole bunch of different topics that we put together for you.
You can also access the Scripture By Topic lists on the WordByMail phone app – right on the home screen, which is awesome for praying in a topic. God will genuinely meet you during this time. And if you allow his Word to renew your mind and renew your heart, revive your heart, then God will transform your life.
Romans 12:2 (NLT) says, Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way that you think.
Renew your mind. Change the way you think, by meeting God on a regular basis and genuinely interacting with God's Word and by his Holy Spirit. And consider trying to do that with the Daily Devotion Journal in the Scripture By Topic lists that you can get at MyDailyChurch.com.
That's all I've got for you today. Let's just pray.
Heavenly Father, I just pray for us. Lord. I pray for us, God, that we would desire to know you in a deeper way every day. That we would put out the effort, Lord, that we would make time, that we would create a space where we can meet you in your Word and by your Spirit, where your living Word can speak to us, where we can apply it and respond, where we can feel like we've had a genuine interaction with you. Lord, please inspire us to that Lord.
And then fill us, with your Spirit to that end, so that you can speak to us, so that you can lead us, and guide us for your glory, for your name through your Word, and by the power of your Holy Spirit. It's all in your name, Jesus, that we pray. Amen.
Thank you for praying for us, and thank you for your support as we continue to grow the ministry. And thanks for telling somebody about this ministry. Again, you can contact us at MyDailyChurch.com.
God bless your week.
And in that devotion, we reviewed the three words that we've been using for all these years to help people develop this this truly meaningful approach to their devotion time with God. This approach is based on these three words.
Meditate. Apply. Respond. That's it. If you review that devotion (The Reset Episode), you can get a little more of my heart on why we're doing this and why I'm trying so hard to make this work for you.
But what I didn't tell you about in The Reset Episode is we actually have written instructions on the Daily Devotion Journal page that you can download and print to use in your devotion time. So, this approach to meeting God is powerful, and it's especially powerful when you take the time to write down your interactions with God in a journal or on a journal page.
If you were to make time, to get alone with God and to sit and to even write your interactions with God, I can assure you that the impact of your time with God would greatly increase.
So, here is the link to the Daily Devotional Journal and the instructions on how to use it. But what I'd like to do right now is just walk you through the instructions for the Daily Devotion Journal so that you can kind of get a feel for it and hopefully maybe be inspired to consider using this simple journal approach to your devotion time.
All right. Let's do that. There may be nothing more powerful in our Christian life than spending quiet, interactive time with God in his Word on a regular basis. This is where God's Word comes alive to us. This is where we hear God speak to us and where we find ourselves in a place that we can respond to him. These moments transform us by renewing our mind through God's Word, immersed in God's Spirit.
So, the Daily Devotion Journal is designed to help you during this crucial time when you're purposefully meeting with God in his Word and in prayer. You can download and print the Daily Devotion Journal and you can write your scripture for this devotion at the top of that page, and then pray. Pray. Slow down. Pray that God would make your heart ready to hear from him, shut out everything else, and get alone with God.
Next, Meditate. Meditate on this scripture, read it slowly, read it carefully, read it repeatedly, asking God to speak to you through his Word. And you should check surrounding verses if you need to, to help you understand the context. You stay in that and then kind of begin to pray the scripture for your life while you're meditating on it. Start to turn it into something personal from God to you.
And then, what we encourage you to do on a Devotion Journal page is write this scripture out, kind of personalizing it in your own words. I don't think it does a lot of good to kind of mechanically copy the scripture, but instead, write it as if God is speaking directly directly to you – because he is. But do it without changing what the scripture says, okay? Don't insert your own theology. But while you're writing what God's Word says, allow his Word to sink into your heart. Write slowly and kind of take in the words as you're writing. That's after meditation.
Next, you're ready to Apply the scripture to your life. And so, when you do this, when you apply this scripture to your life, be personal. Be specific. Apply the scripture in your life in writing. Write down what the Holy Spirit is addressing in your life through this scripture. Just ask God. “God reveal to me where these verses apply to my life today.” And then write it down. And it takes a little courage to do this. How do these words specifically apply to your life today? Be honest with God. Be real with God.
And this is this is the last step. Decide what you're going to do today in Response to this scripture. Maybe it's taking physical action on something. Maybe it's taking your thoughts captive. Maybe it's choosing to respond in your heart according to God's Word. The final step before you close in prayer is how are you going to respond to this scripture today and then write that down.
And then finally, to finish your time, write out a Prayer to God in response to how he's met you in this scripture, in his Word, and make your commitment to God. Thank him for speaking to you through his Word in writing and by writing out your prayer.
So that's it. You Meditate, Apply, Respond. And you Pray on both sides of it.
And that's it. And listen, if you can't write, if you can't find the place or time or if you're not able to write out your response, you can still interact with God and I pray that you would. I'm not saying you have to be sitting in a place and writing. I'm just telling you we've seen God do really powerful things when people make that commitment. So, if you can't then you just interact with God in your heart as I go through the scripture.
So now finally, the question is, where are you going to get the scripture to put on the top of your journal page? Where do you get the scripture to use with it? Again, we want to supply that for you so you can go to MyDailyChurch.com and click on the Scripture By Topic link. And right there, you're going to find scripture on a whole bunch of different topics that we put together for you.
You can also access the Scripture By Topic lists on the WordByMail phone app – right on the home screen, which is awesome for praying in a topic. God will genuinely meet you during this time. And if you allow his Word to renew your mind and renew your heart, revive your heart, then God will transform your life.
Romans 12:2 (NLT) says, Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way that you think.
Renew your mind. Change the way you think, by meeting God on a regular basis and genuinely interacting with God's Word and by his Holy Spirit. And consider trying to do that with the Daily Devotion Journal in the Scripture By Topic lists that you can get at MyDailyChurch.com.
That's all I've got for you today. Let's just pray.
Heavenly Father, I just pray for us. Lord. I pray for us, God, that we would desire to know you in a deeper way every day. That we would put out the effort, Lord, that we would make time, that we would create a space where we can meet you in your Word and by your Spirit, where your living Word can speak to us, where we can apply it and respond, where we can feel like we've had a genuine interaction with you. Lord, please inspire us to that Lord.
And then fill us, with your Spirit to that end, so that you can speak to us, so that you can lead us, and guide us for your glory, for your name through your Word, and by the power of your Holy Spirit. It's all in your name, Jesus, that we pray. Amen.
Thank you for praying for us, and thank you for your support as we continue to grow the ministry. And thanks for telling somebody about this ministry. Again, you can contact us at MyDailyChurch.com.
God bless your week.