Christian Devotion :)

 Introduction

The human spirit was designed to function best under the the atmosphere of God's presence but when man fell, his spirit was disconnected from the life and presence of

God… The result of this was SPIRITUAL DEATH.

When you accept Christ into your life, your spirit was recreated with the life of God  & restored to it. This new spirit needs to be sustained by CONSTANT FELLOWSHIP with God and by CONTINOUSLY FEEDING on the Word.

 With this, it is safe to conclude that we do not only commune with God in our daily

devotion but His present is deposited in our hearts so that we are strengthened and edified to

function as God wants us to i.e His original plan for mankind.

What then is CHRISTIAN DEVOTION?

CHRISTIAN DEVOTION is an art of bringing out time to have personal fellowship with God.

Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left [the house], and went out to a

secluded place, and was praying there. [Mark 1:35 AMP]

Even Jesus had his fellowshipped with God often!

WHY SHOULD I HAVE DAILY DEVOTION?🤔

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall read [and meditate on] it

day and night, so that you may be careful to do [everything] in accordance with all that is written

in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will be successful. [Joshua 1:8 AMP]

• Devotion enables us to draw from God's presence and His virtue into our spirit.

• It's the key to staying close to the heart of God: "Christianity is a relationship and in every relationship, devotion and communion is required"

• It helps you grow spiritually.

• It enables you to hear from God and obtain direction from your life

• It helps you be like Him: This means you begin to act like Christ. "You display the character of the person you spend time with"; unkowingly you would then be referred to as A CHIP OF THE OLD BLOCK!

• It is key to living an organized life: This is something I discovered. If I don't have my devotion in the morning, my day gets very disorganized and I don't like being disorganized cause I start getting cranky for no reason! So if you've noticed this trend in you, I'll advise you to have a personal devotion before you start your day.😊

HOW DO I HAVE MY DEVOTION?🤔

Your daily devotion should consist of:

WORSHIP/PRAISE

Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. [Psalms 100:2, 4 NLT] - 

Worship/Praise is an essential part of your devotion,the Lord inhabits the praises of his people. So when you praise or worship God you invite his presence right there where you are.

PRAYER

Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. [Mark 1:35 NLT]

BIBLE STUDY

"But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, _People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God._". [Matthew 4:4 NLT].

The Word itslef is life, truth and light, how then can you do without studying the Word and meditating on it throughout your day? You'll need Bible references in different situations you'll come across!

MEDITATION

Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked [following their advice and example], Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit [down to rest] in the seat of scoffers (ridiculers). 

But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And on His law [His precepts and teachings] he [habitually] meditates day and night. And he will be like a tree firmly planted [and fed] by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season; Its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers [and comes to maturity]. [Psalms 1:1-3 AMP]

BENEFITS OF DAILY DEVOTION

~ It gives you a fresh direction for the day - _Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come._ [Jeremiah 33:3 NLT]

~ It helps you to develop your faith and the knowledge of God's word

~ It helps you cultivate the fruits of the spirit

~ It helps you to access God's wisdom for solving problems and achieving success

~ It helps you receive a fresh anointing each day. Avoid burnouts!

~ It sharpens your spirit and makes you become spiritually sensitive.

~ It is the place where you connect to God.

Reasons why people are not consistent in devotion…

1. Daily work/school schedule

2. Not rising up early

3. Pressing issues

4. Procrastination

5. Guilt or unconfessed sins

6. Substituting church activities for personal devotion

7. Excuses like no time; but the truth is:

"Any time you spend with God is never wasted, it is actually time well invested"

SOLUTION

1. Create time early in the morning to begin your day with God.

2. Find a conducive and quiet place

3. Make a commitment, draw up a plan and stick to it: I don't mean to scare you but if you don't have a daily devotion, you're starving your spirit of food. Yes! Your spirit feeds on worship, prayer, study and meditation. The result of not having a devotion is: stunted spiritual growth, weak prayer life, weak faith, lack of power to overcome sin and temptation, loss of sensitivity to God, lack of wisdom, lack of direction/focus etc.

HOW LONG SHOULD YOUR DEVOTION TIME LAST?🤔

• It depends on your level of spiritual growth. Though the bible seems to suggest a minimum of one hour

Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? [Matthew 26:40 NLT]

The longer, the better but please, it is not a competition........  The time allocated for each aspect like prayer, worship and studying the word can vary from time to time. If the spirit of worship comes upon you strongly, go ahead and worship for as long as you want to. Same goes for prayer and study of the word.

TIPS

1. Learn to go to bed early in order to rise early

2. Begin with praise/worship/thanksgiving

3. Pray in tongues to charge your spirit

4. Have a plan for the study of God's word

5. Take time to meditate on and write down the things the Holy Spirit says to you while you're studying and praying.

• "Not having devotion/spending time with God is like not fueling a car"
• "Devotion is not family devotion, it is personal! Having a personal relationship is important"
• "Devotion is building a relationship with God"
• "Devotion = Personal revelation"

I hope we have been blessed this morning!