My Time with God: Devotions
Devotions are essential to every Christian life. Purposefully spending time with God through reading His Word and prayer feeds and strengthens our spirit and develops our relationship with God. It is a time when we can receive direction and love from Him and pour out our heart to the Lord. There are many different ways to spend quality time with God. Here you will find some tools, methods, and suggestions that will help you develop a strong habit of daily devotions. Also, find out more through taking our HALAU courses that will instruct, encourage, and build you up in spending time with God.
10 Daily Devotion Tips:
(Excerpts from HALAU 201, Discovering Spiritual Maturity, written by Rick Warren)
1. Choose a Bible reading plan and stick to it.
2. Some good translations for reading: Good News, Living Bible, Phillips (if you read approximately 15 minuets a day, you can read through the Bible once a year!)
3. Memorize scripture including where to find it in the Bible.
4. Think about and record what God shows you through reading His Word by journaling.
5. Schedule a specific time to spend with God - make it special.
6. Focus on quality of time not quantity of time.
7. Ask God to show you what is on His heart and what you should pray about.
8. Don't forget to both praise and thank Him as well as ask Him for help.
9. Do your best to be consistent-it takes 3 weeks to develop a habit and 3 more weeks before it becomes a comfortable habit.
10. Developing a new habit is a process - Ask God for help, and don't give up!
The Life Journal
Read and study the Bible in a new way. Developed by Pastor Wayne Cordiero of New Hope Oahu, the Life Journal incorporates a unique Bible reading schedule that reads through the scriptures historically instead of by category the way it is traditionally arranged in the Bible. This creates a more narrative flow to the Old and New Testament. Following this schedule allows you to read the Old Testament once a year and the New Testament twice a year. Also, it teaches and an easy method of journaling that helps solidify your time with God. To learn more contact Lehua Sen or check out www.lifejournal.cc.
Devotions Online
For all the techy people out there, sign up for free at www.lifejournal.me and do your devotions using your iPad or computer. It has all the tools you need to read the day's scriptures and journal the word online. There's even an option to post and share what you've just read.
Find the entire Bible online at biblegateway.com. Easily look up scriptures or topics and read the Word in dozens of different languages and translations. Even listen to certain passages read aloud. Also, find multiple Bible reading plans available at this site.
Bible.cc
Great for studying the Word, Bible.cc is an online parallel Bible that allows you to cross-reference; discover the the context of verses including it's original Greek and Hebrew words; look up topics in the concordance, encyclopedia, and dictionary all at once; and much more.
Recommended Books on Devotional Time:
The Divine Mentor by Wayne Cordiero
Meeting God by Bill Hybels