DEVOTIONS – SUMMARY & NOTES
Westney Heights Baptist Church – Men’s Breakfast – November 16, 2013
Devotions are not the act of a moment but the duty of a lifetime -
Joshua 1:8
This Book of the Law shall not
depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so
that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.
For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good
success.
Regardless of your surroundings, you are meeting with God! -
Joshua 1:3
Every place that the sole of your
foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses.
4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon
as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the
Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your
territory.
Take God seriously, He takes you seriously -
Joshua 1:5
No man shall be able to stand
before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I
will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.
The focus of devotions should be on your personal responsibility to God - Joshua 24:15 “And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
Some Thoughts on Personal & Family Devotion Times
·
Mealtimes are an excellent time for family devotions; you’ve got to eat
anyway, take a moment while you’re together to read the Bible and pray
together
·
Regularity of devotions are essential. Make it a habit to meet with God
at about the same time each day … even if it means getting up a few
minutes earlier
·
Do not skip your devotions when you suddenly discover that you’ve used
up a good portion of your allotted time doing something else, an honest
prayer at the beginning of the day will help ground you in God the rest
of the day
·
Devotions need not always be prayer, or reading the Bible or book of
devotions; on some occasions your devotions may take the form of
admiring the world around you, or writing a poem, or preparing a meal.
Devotions can be anything which you can do to the honour and glory of
God.
·
The Psalms are rightly used as a prime source of devotional material as
they reveal every human emotion to direct it back to God; yet each Psalm
is itself a work of art, some of which have taken their writers hours to
complete. The Psalms would generally not be spur-of-the-moment writings
but would have been written by a writer carefully choosing his words. As
such, they are both ideal devotional material and display the intensity
that is sometimes needed on our part.
· Specially prepared devotional material could be used at special times of the year to draw attention to the significance of what is being celebrated. Such material can readily be found for seasons such as Christmas or Easter but other material exists, or can be made, to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, vacations, or any other time of importance. Since all good things and every good time is from the hand God, the imagination is really the only limit. The only real limit is to do whatever we do to the honour of God.