Feeding My Heart and Mind Daily
If you tuned into our online church or attended our church in person in the last two weeks, Chris and I talked about the need for feeding our hearts & minds with the truth. I issued a challenge: make a decision to open scripture every day, even for just 15 minutes. “Get acclimated to how God sounds and works.”
I mentioned my pattern of a devotional book that primed the pump of my heart. I started 2020 off by reading Paul Tripp’s New Morning Mercies. 2021 is a new year, so Kelly and I decided that we would use a devotional book together. Nancy Guthrie is an author we have known for three decades. She’s warm, genuine, and published many books over the last decade. But the one that caught Kelly’s eye last year was Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament. It’s a one-year journey that helps us to see that the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) are all pointing to Jesus. She references several scriptures each day and provides an example prayer at the end that’s related to that day’s journey.
This is our plan for 2021. What’s yours? I have chafed against devotional books in the past. “I’m able to create my own reading plan,” I would say. But last year it was great to have someone leading me in that. So this year I decided that Kelly’s suggestion was a great one. Our staff will be recommending resources for that journey, and you have many other options of reading plans at your disposal. Just Google “Bible Reading Plans” and you’ll tire quickly of all the pages you have accessed!
That’s the easy part. The hard part is making a decision about your life. “I NEED to hear from God daily,” must become what Chris described: a time, a place, and a plan.
As for me, I have pursued two graduate theology degrees and have been a follower of Jesus for decades. But in spite of that, I still know that I need to hear from Him daily. No matter how much I have learned in the past, I know that I’m still trying to figure out my crazy world and I need His guidance and presence. Frankly, I find it impossible to believe that you don’t need that too!
Pick a time. Pick a place. Pick a plan. And open your Bible to see what God wants to say to you.
