God Convicted Me of Reading My Devotional

Yes.  God convicted me of reading my devotional.  Go on, keep reading.

My mom probably doesn’t realize the impact she made on me.  I’d often find her with her Bible open and she would be weeping.  With concern, I’d always ask, what’s wrong mom? And she would wipe her tears and say, oh honey, I’m just rejoicing in the Lord. Now, my boys don’t need to find me crying, but I do want them to find me earnestly seeking the Lord.  I’ve been making a very conscience effort lately to sit down and read my devotional once the boys are finished with breakfast.  I sit down at the kitchen table and let them know that “momma has to read her Bible right now, please go play in the play room”, to which they normally reply with a roar or a quick transform motion from a boy into a dino-bot, which is three year old for “okay mom”.

God Convicted Me of Reading My Devotional

On this particular morning, I reached for my devotional and as I did, I felt strongly convicted about reading my devotional.  Yes, I’ll say it again.  God convicted me of reading my devotional.  I quickly had a discussion with Him in my head, I read it for encouragement, I told Him, besides, there’s a verse at the very beginning of every chapter. I’ll make sure and read it twice today. And as my hand landed on the cover He spoke to me, “Man cannot live on bread alone, but on the Word of God.”  Whoa.  Okay, you have my attention, Lord. I thumbed through to the chapter I was on and read the verse (as I had promised I would).  And do you know what that verse was?  Do you?  I’ll tell you.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12.

You can imagine what my response was.  A jaw-drop.  And I read it twice (just as I said I would).  He convicted me.

The Word of God

Devotionals and Christian books are wonderful!  I’ve definitely read, highlighted and wept on pages of my fair share.  But listen closely brave momma, there is absolutely no substitute for the Word of God.  It is the inspired Word of God.

I can read chapter after chapter of someone else’s word that God may very well have inspired, but I can’t just live on that.  Matthew 4:4 clearly states, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”  As I was reaching for that devotional that morning, God convicted me to remember that it’s with His word that I find hope.  It’s with His word I have to equip myself with before I got into spiritual and emotional battle with a two and a three year old.

One thing I love about our church is that we are un-apologetically Bible-based.  Bibles are under every other chair in the sanctuary and we stand when we read His word at the beginning of every sermon taught.  You’d think, well yeah, it’s a church. But you’d be surprised at how many churches don’t preach out of the Bible.  Passages may be mentioned, intentions may be in the right place, people may be influenced and encouraged.  But there is a distinct difference between someone else’s word and God’s Word.  God’s word is alive.

Keep God’s Word Alive

It’s up to you. Everyday you have a choice to make, will you make God’s word a priority in your life. If this is new to you I have some ideas that may help you get started.

1.  Proverbs 31 Ministries has an app called First Five.  You can set your morning alarm with the app so when you wake-up the first thing you read is God’s word.  It’s a great way to break the habit of morning social media scrolling.  Consume yourself with Him, not with other people.
2. Bring your Bible to church with you.  This is something I haven’t done in years but I am making a point to pick up and read from the physical Word of God when I’m at church on Sundays.
3. Post scripture verses around your kitchen.  Or bathroom.  Or playroom.  Saturate your walls with God’s word!
4. Create a routine.  I try to leave my Bible out on the table as a reminder to myself to read it in the morning.  Once the boys have eaten, I get them occupied with something and sit down with my coffee and read.

What tips do you have for making God’s word a priority?

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Melodee Fiske

When she’s not photographing people, she’s photographing for some of the best blogs in the business.When Holly asked her to join her in co-founding Mom the Brave, she jumped in with both feet.Her desire is to create a community of women bonded together by their stories of survival and faith.

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