Growing Deeper in Christ: Daily Bible Study Devotionals
DAY ONE – FASHIONED FOR HIM
You were created by Him and for Him.
He formed you and fashioned you and all of creation around you. You
and every good gift you enjoy come from Him. Meditate on the
following scriptures:
Psalm 24:1-2
The earth is the Lord's, and the
fullness of it, the world and they who dwell in it. For He has
founded it upon the seas and established it upon the currents and the
rivers.
Nehemiah 9:6
You alone are the LORD. You made the
heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the
earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You
give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.
Romans 11:36
For from him and through him and to him
are all things. To him be glory forever
Col. 1:16
For by him were all things created,
that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible...
all things were created by him, and for him.
Can you see His love for you in
creation?
John Eldredge writes, “ Think of the
ocean. Picture it in your mind. Tonight the breakers are thundering
on the reef a hundred yards out, and beyond that open ocean. What
does this tell us about Jesus? What words come to mind?
Majestic, powerful, wild, dangerous.” [1]
He notes, “Creation is epic and
intimate. He is epic and intimate. Everywhere around me, an
obsession with beauty and attention to detail. But most of all, I am
thunderstruck by the abundant generosity strewn around, constantly
rolling in. It's as if someone took the family silver and rand down
the beach, tossing handfuls here and there like a madman. How do you
describe this extravagance? What kind of person acts like this?”
[2]
John Eldredge goes on to write, “What
generosity gave us so much? Beauty answers nearly every question.
'Whoever,
therefore, is not enlightened by such splendor of created things is
blind;
whoever is not
awakened by such outcries is deaf...
Therefore, open
your eyes, alert the ears of your spirit,
open your lips and
apply to your heart...
Concerning the
mirror of things perceived through sensation,
we can see God...
in them, as he is in them.'” [3]
Practice: As you see the beauty
in creation and meditate on His love for you through it, say this
prayer: (Psalm 8:3-4a)
When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is man that you are
mindful of him...?
DAY TWO – CREATED FOR INTIMATE
FELLOWSHIP
What does the word friend mean to
you?
A friend, Greek word philos,
Strongs #G5384, is someone for whom there is deep affection and
love.[4] They are someone who you are open with and share intimate
thoughts. They are someone who:
desires what is
best for you – your advocate,
believes in you
and believes the best about you;
is there for you
when you need them,
and comes through
for you time after time.
They trust you.
They are also
someone who is honest with you,
has compassion
with you, showing you mercy and covering your weaknesses,
forgives you,
and most of all –
enjoys your company. [5]
Jesus calls us friends. In John 15:15
he says, “I do not call you servants (salves) any longer, for the
servant does not know what his master is doing (working out). But I
have called you My friends, because I have made known to you
everything that I have heard from My Father [I have revealed to you
everything that I have learned from Him.]”
Proverbs 17:17 says about a friend, “A
friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 shows us what His
love looks like. Look these verses up in your Bible and read them
replacing “Love” with “Jesus”.
How has Jesus shown you that He
loves you even in your weaknesses? How has He demonstrated His love
for you and faithfulness to you in adversity? What about when the
adversity was your own doing... How have you seen Him come through
for you in loving support and faithfulness?
John Eldredge writes, “The purpose of
you being here on this planet, at this moment in time comes down to
three things:
- To love Jesus with all that is within you. This is the first and greatest command. Everything else flows from here.
- To share your daily live with him; to let him be himself with you. On the beach, at supper, along the road – just as the disciples did.
- To allow his life to fill yours, to heal and express itself through yours. There is no other way you can hope to live as he did and show him to others.” [6]
He goes on to write, “Love Jesus.
Let him be himself with you. Allow his life to permeate yours. The
fruit of this will be... breathtaking.” He notes that Francis of
Assisi did not have religion, but a love affair with Jesus. Doing
religious practices is not the same as acting out of a heart of love
for Jesus. [7]
Practice:
Jeanne Guyon writes of a deep
inward relationship with Christ by a simple practice. She writes,
“It is only the turning and yielding of your heart to the Lord. It
is the expression of love within your heart to the Lord. [8]
Practice today turning your heart
to Jesus over and over again every time it comes to mind, expressing
love within your heart for Him however it overflows at the moment as
you think of Him. If you get an opportunity, write down a word or
two that come to your heart on a sheet of paper.
DAY THREE –
DRAWN INTO UNION TO COMMUNE WITH GOD
Once we are saved, we belong to God
in intimate union with Him just as the Father is in intimate
fellowship with the Son through the gift of the Holy Spirit. What do
these verses speak about His desire for union and intimacy with you?
John 14:16
And I will ask the
Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you
forever--
John 16:7
However, I am telling you nothing but
the truth when I say it is profitable for you that I go away.
Because if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you [into
close fellowship with you]; but if I go away, I will send Him to you
[to be in close fellowship with you].
John 16:15
Everything that the Father has is Mine.
That is what I meant when I said that He [the Spirit] will take the
things that are Mine and will reveal it to you.
John 17:26
I have made Your Name known to them and
revealed Your character and Your very Self, and I will continue to
make [You] known, that the love which You have bestowed upon Me may
be in them [felt in their hearts] and that I [Myself] may be in them.
Jesus desires to have in intimate
relationship and fellowship with each one of us. Meditate on the
following scriptures:
John 15:4a
Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you.
[Live in Me, and I will live in You.].
John 15:9-11
I have loved you, [just] as the Father
has loved Me; abide in My love [continue in His love with Me]. If
you keep my commandments [if you continue to obey My instructions]
you will abide in My love and live on in it, just as I have obeyed My
Father's commandments and live on in His love. I have told you these
things, that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and
gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing.
Jeanne Guyon writes, “That inward
kingdom, that real within you, is a place of peace.” As she notes,
this place of rest is not obtained by our religious doing, but by our
practice of resting in the love of Christ. We are drawn into union
by His love and our heart response of love for Him. [9]
Practice: Let your heart be
drawn into union and communion with Him. Read the below poem by St.
Teresa of Avila and let it draw you to Him. Then write your own
short poem about His love and sufficiency.
“Let nothing
disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are
passing away:
God never
changes.
Patience
obtains all things
Whoever has God
lacks nothing;
God alone
suffices.”
DAY FOUR- ABONDONMENT TO HIS CARE
Jesus cares for us and everything about
our lives. There is nothing that blindsides Him that He has not
planned for. Sometimes, rather than resting in His love, we lose the
peace He so freely gives us and get caught up in worry and fear about
our circumstances.
Meditate on the Following
Scriptures:
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace
I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to
you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
[Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not
permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and
unsettled.
1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your anxiety on him because he
cares for you.
Proverbs 3:6
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and
He will direct your paths.
Proverbs 16:3
Commit your works unto the Lord, and
your thoughts shall be established.
Matthew 6:25 "Therefore I tell
you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or
about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than
food, and the body more important than clothes?
Matthew 6:27 Who of you by worrying can
add a single hour to his life?
We experience the overwhelming peace
of God as we learn to abandon ourselves to His care. When have you
experienced this sense of peace that surpasses all understanding in
the midst of difficult circumstances?
Jeanne Guyon writes, “To penetrate
deeper in the experience of Jesus Christ, it is required that you
begin to abandon your whole existence, giving it up to God... You
must utterly believe that the circumstances of your life, that is,
every minute of your life, as well as the whole course of your life
-anything, yest, everything that happens- have all come to you by His
will and by His permission. You must utterly believe that everything
that has happened to you is from God is and exactly what you need.
[10]
She goes on to note that abandonment is
the key to plunge the fathomless depths in Christ and His love. She
writes, “Abandonment is casting off all your cares. Abandonment is
dropping all your needs. This includes spiritual needs.” [11]
Practice: Picture the large
hands of God reaching out in front of you available to, with care,
take your problems and worries. Place your personal desires, cares
and worries in His hands and let Him hold them. As you forget
yourself, your desires and concerns, rest in His love.
As personal desires, cares or worries
come up during the day, practice refusing them and placing them into
God's hands and saying to Yourself, 'He cares for all I need.'
DAY FIVE - SET FREE IN LOVE
We can trust God to come through for us
in our difficulties. He not only comes through for us in showing
up, but He sets us free through His power.
Dee Brestin and Kathy Troccoli write,
“He is our Prince who comes through. Paul put it like this:
We are handicapped
on all sides, but we are never frustrated; we are puzzled, but never
in despair. We are persecuted, but we never have to stand it alone;
we may be knocked down but we are never knocked out! Every day we
experience something of the death of Jesus, so that we may also know
the power of the life of Jesus in these bodies of ours....” [12]
Recount some of the times He has not
only came through for you but delivered you in the midst of your
situation and gave you freedom. Mediate on the following
scriptures:
Psalm 34:4-8
I sought the Lord,
and he answered me
he delivered me
from all my fears.
Those who look to
him are radiant;
their faces are
never covered with shame.
This poor man
called, and the Lord heard him;
he saved him out
of all his troubles.
The angel of the
Lord encamps
around those who
fear him,
and he delivers
them.
Taste and see that
the Lord is good;
bless is the man
who takes refuge in him. [13]
Psalm 40:17
Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord
think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer; O my
God, do not delay.
Jeanne Guyon notes that temptations and
distractions cause us to lose our sense of peace and resting in God's
love for us. She notes that in entering a deep place of abiding in
His love, it is necessary to turn away from sin and turn towards God.
[14]
When we are tempted, she writes,
“self-denial is not the answer!” Too often we focus on the
thing that is tempting us, grit our teeth and try to use our own will
power in our own strength. She notes that this only keeps us focused
on our senses. Rather we need to turn inward and be present to God
-dwelling on Him. As we draw closer to Him, our soul becomes farther
separated from the self. [15]
Practice: Pay attention to when
the peace of God is filling you and when it seems absent. Practice
turning away from sin, temptation and distraction to rest in God's
love and care. Memorize the following verses in Psalm 16:8-9:
I have set the
Lord always before me.
Because He is at
my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore, my
heart is glad and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also
shall rest in hope.
4. Vine, W. E. ; Unger, Merrill F. ; White, William: Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Nashville : T. Nelson, 1996, S. 2:256
5. Some of the references on
friendship came from the Wikipedia under the topic Friendship.
Located at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendship.
Last accessed: 6/5/12.
8-11, 14-15. Guyon, Jeanne. Experiencing The Depths of Jesus Christ. SeedSowers, Christian Books Publishing House, Sargent GA.
12. Brestine, Dee and Troccoli, Kathy. Falling in Love with Jesus. Thomas Nelson, Nashville, TN. 2000.
13. Brestine, Dee and Troccoli, Kathy. Leaders Guide: Falling in Love with Jesus. Thomas Nelson, Nashville, TN. 2001.
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