Growing Deeper in Christ -Daily Devotional
DAY ONE
Dee Brestin & Kathy Troccoli write about the verse where Mary
poured oil on the feet of Jesus and she was rebuked by the disciples,
“Both Martha and the disciples made the mistake of valuing good
deeds over their love relationship with Jesus. It isn't that Jesus
doesn't value good deeds. He knows that good deeds will naturally
flow out of communion with Him. But communion will not necessarily
flow out of good deeds.” [1]
Are there areas in your life where you are 'doing good' to be a good
person or judging others deeds? Are you over busy with activities?
Meditate on the following verses, underlining the words that stand
out to you:
Matthew
11:28,
Jesus says, "Come
to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you
rest..”
Philippians 3:10
Paul says, “[For
my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may
progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him,
perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His
Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same
way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it
exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to
be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His
death, [in the hope] that if possible I may attain to the [spiritual
and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead [even
while in the body].”
What do these
verses speak about what is most important?
What are some ways
that you can slow down your life to come present to God?
Practice –
Beholding His Beauty
Memorize this
verse -
Psalm 27:4 says,
“One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell
in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the
beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.”
What are some
pictures of Jesus that capture your heart? Spend time this week when
you get up in the morning adoring Him and telling Him what amazes you
about Him.
What does this
verse speak about keeping your mind fixed on Jesus rather than
worries, troubles, difficulties, etc.?
Philippians 4:8,
“...brethren,
whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable
and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely
and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is
any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise,
think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds
on them].
Read Revelation 4
each day this week.
DAY TWO
Dee Brestin & Kathy Troccoli write, “Communing with the Lord
needs to be as necessary and consistent as breathing. We must
practice His presence in everything. What do you put in your heart?
What do you think about? What music? What books? What about your
friends? Have you sought out people who will really sharpen you?”
[2]
Dee and Kathy go
on to note that what we allow to seep into our souls will impact our
relationship with Jesus and those around us. Are there things in
your life that are having a subtle influence on you to dull your
spirit and awareness of God by distracting you or drawing you away?
[3]
Proverbs 25:16
says, “If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you
have your fill of it and vomit it.”
Are there areas
where you spend too much time on pleasures? Where you over indulge
on a regular basis? Is there one area of over indulgence you would
be willing to fast for the next month?
Brother Lawrence
writes it “Practicing the Presence of God,”
“sometimes it is
helpful to disengage the sentiments of the will from the world, in
order that it can focus entirely on God. For if the will is able in
some manner to comprehend Him, it can only be by love. And that
love, which has its end in God, will be hindered by the things of
this world.” [4]
Too much drama,
sexual references, violence, etc in TV shows, books or other media
can dull your spirit. What small changes could you make this week in
the books you read, music you listen to, TV shows you watch to awaken
your heart to Jesus rather than the world's vices?
Practice -- Lectio
Divana [5].
- Read the Word. Spend a few minutes sitting in the love of Father God as His child. Then open up the Word as a love letter. Pray for God to open the eyes of your heart to see Him and His love for you in it. Read the text attentively from the heart (not the mind) looking to receive the manna He has for you in it.
- Meditate on what you have read. Re-read what you have read. Listen to what God is speaking to you through the word. Circle, underline and write down things that you hear God speak to you in it. Let Him love you and let it work to deepen your relationship with Him.
- Express your heart. As you ponder it, converse with God about it. Ask yourself where is your heart in the verses? Where is God's heart in the verses? Write down thoughts and questions you have from it. Let a prayer bubble up from your heart from what you read.
- Rest in His Love. Let Him love you through your conversation and connection. Rest in the place of love.
DAY THREE
Jesus says in John
16:33, “In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress
and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident,
certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived
it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]
Sometimes we do
not want to slow down and become present to God because we also will
become present to our pain. What is some of the areas of pain that
you need to invite Jesus into?
Mary's (the mother
Jesus) experienced the tremendous pain of watching her son die before
her very eyes in the most humiliating and shameful way possible. He
was tortured as the lowest of low criminal. Yet Mary continued to
look on, turning to Jesus and not away from Him in her pain.
Read John 19 and
underline all the ways it speaks of Jesus being humiliated, scored,
mocked, and tortured.
Journal on your
areas of pain and disappointment. Converse with Jesus and ask Him if
He will meet you in your places of pain.
Despite the
incredible pain and persecution that Mary experienced, she was
considered most blessed among women. She is remembered throughout
history for giving life to the very one who would bring life and
salvation to the world.
With the help of
Jesus, Mary overcame in the midst of her pain. Can you see where God
has used your areas of pain for good? Write down some good that has
been worked out of your pain. Spend time thanking and praising Him
for the good.
Paul prayed in a
verse I noted earlier in the week (Phil. 3:10), “that I may so
share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into
His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope] that if possible I may
attain to the [spiritual and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] out
from among the dead [even while in the body].”
Can you see where
suffering has made you more in the likeness of Christ?
The reason for
Paul's sufferings were for the benefit of others knowing Christ.
Paul and the other Apostles considered it a privilege to suffer for
Christ and His kingdom. They rejoiced at the opportunity. Like
Mary whose pain and persecution birthed the gift of Life for the
world, sometimes our painful circumstances are used for the benefit
of many. God gives us the privilege of suffering for the greater
kingdom good.
Can you see the
greater kingdom purposes God has worked out through past suffering?
Read Romans 5:3,
Romans 12:12, Hebrews 10:32, Hebrews 10:36, Acts 5:41, 1 Peter 4:14
Practice:
At the end of
every evening this week, write down in a notebook blessings and
'kisses from the King' that you experienced during the day. Spend
time thanking Him for them.
DAY FOUR
Dee Brestin & Kathy Troccoli write, “In the Song of Songs, the
lover comes, leaping across the mountains, and invites his beloved to
go highter with him:
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come away with me. (Song of
Songs 2:10)”
They go on to note that while we are called to come higher, sometimes
we are camped out in our comfortable places, satisfied with where we
are and don't want to invest the energy and effort it would take to
go higher. They note that we end up serving Him out of our
brokenness rather than wholeness.
Rather than going through the pain it would take to change, we
justify our sin and complacency in it telling ourselves it is not so
bad. We live with it even though it dulls our spirit.
Jesus tells the church in Revelations 3:15-16, “I know your [record
of] works and what you are doing; you are neither cold nor hot.
Would that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukeward and
neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth!”
Rather than
sitting complacently by in our places of comfort, our walk with God
is to be more like a race. We are to train, buffet our bodies, and
run to gain the prize. We are to pour everything we have into this
race. And when it gets difficult, we are to endure to the end.
Meditate on the
following scriptures:
1 Corinthians 9:24, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners
run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the
prize.”
Philipians 3:14, “I press on toward the goal to win the [surpreme
and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us
upward.”
Hebrews 12:1-4,
“Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of
witnesses [who have borne tesimony to the Truth], let us strip off
and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin
which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entanges us, and
let us run with patient endurance and stead and active persistence
the appointed course of the race that is set before us...
What are the
weights that are clinging or entangling you? Is there sin in your
life that you have become comfortable with?
Sometimes it is not directly sinning, but our failure to act in
complacency that is the sin that keeps us from moving forward.
James
4:17 says, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do
and doesn't do it, sins.
Where is God asking you to act? What sin is at the root of your
failure to act?
Practice:
Read and pray Psalm 51, bringing your secret sins out to the light
before Him.
DAY FIVE
Dee Brestin & Kathy Troccoli mention how Leah idolized the love
of Jacob and Rachel idolized having children.[6] At one point,
Rachel told Jacob, “Give me children, or else I will die!”
(Genesis 30:1).
Whether it is the idol of self like Jacob, someoene else's love like
Leah, or having children like Rachel, we can struggle with wanting
something for ourselves more than God at times. Are there areas in
your life where there is conflict that may be the result of idolatry?
Can you name the idolatry causing it?
When Rachel left her father's house, she stole her father Leban's
household idols. When he came for them, she hid them under her skirt
and lied about it rather than give them up (Geneisis 31:34-35).
What idols in your life are generational?
Are there times in your life you find yourself lying? What is the
idol that is motivating your actions? Can you see how letting it
stay hidden keeps you from getting free?
“You raise me up to more than I can be” sings in the background
Despite Rachel, Leah's and Jacob's struggle with idolatry, God
demonstrated to them over and over how deeply loved they were. He
blessed them and was with them.
Idolitry in our life will keep turning us off course from what is
vital and most important. It will cause us to stumble and hinder
our ability to love other's fully and freely. Our love will have
hooks in it.
Paul prays in in Philippians 1:9-10, "that your love may abound
yet more and more and extend to its fullest development in knowledge
and all keen insight [that your love may display itself in greater
depth of acquaintance and more comprehensive discernment],
So
that you may surely learn to sense what is vital, and approve and
prize what is excellent and of real value [recognizing the highest
and the best, and distinguishing the moral differences], and that you
may be untainted and pure and unerring and blameless [so that with
hearts sincere and certain and unsullied, you may approach] the day
of Christ [not stumbling nor causing others to stumble]."
What
does it look like for your love to grow into full knowledge? How
would you define discernment?
Jacob
wrestled with God and His name was changed from supplanter, but
contender with God (Genesis 32:28). Can you see in your life where
wrestling with him in your places of idolatry has resulted in knowing
Him better and has created in you greater discernment on what is of
real value?
4. Brother
Lawrence, The Practice of The Presence of God. Whitaker House, New
Kensington, PA. 1982
5.
Hougen, Judith. Transformed Into Fire: An Inventation to Life in
the True Self. Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI. 2002.
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