Devotional Life
Mark 10:21 “Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.”
Christ calls us to follow him, but this is not a mere following as one would follow their favorite team or favorite television show. It is a following of Christ that demands complete and entire devotion to him: insomuch that we even follow him in the face of death, that is, taking up our cross (a means of tortured execution) to do so. The one person we have in our hearts is Christ, the one object we are pursuing in life is a relationship with Christ. We do not live our lives, enjoying our freedoms, filling our days with fun and frolic and then at the end of the day give a few moments to Christ. To take up the cross and follow Jesus is a minute-by-minute, second-by-second devotion to our Lord. We love him more than life itself! This is the fundamental foundation of a devoted life that produces a devotional life. Speaking of a devoted life, Brother Branham said:
“The God of heaven deserves your best of everything that you have. The best of your time, all your devotion, and everything that you are, you owe it to God. We give God just… maybe a few minutes on Sunday.”[1]
“You know, the way to find God is to meditate upon God, think of God. David spoke of it. How he would bind the laws on his bedposts, and how he would meditate therein day and night.”[2]
As a follower of Jesus, we devote our best time to feeding on his Word and communicating with him in prayer. It is not a matter of spending a few moments, we must demand hours with him, to hear his voice speaking to us today, leading us today and feeding on the Bible and sermons from his prophet and servants in this day. Then we go out into our world and do the work of our Father. Our main vision is not how can we get ahead financially, how can we improve our lot in life, but how can we glorify Jesus Christ today, how can we point a soul towards Jesus?
Let’s look more into this devotional life. I want to bring a few scriptures to you and then discuss how they apply to us in our daily lives.
Psalms 77:6 “I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.”
Both of these actions take time to do. They cannot be done in a rush. The devotional life takes time and deliberation. Calling to remembrance takes time. It is not just popping into remembrance, it is calling it to remembrance, bring it up before your heart to meditate upon its words. The next part is communing with your own heart and making diligent search in your heart. This can’t be done while texting, Facebooking, Whatsapping, searching YouTube or in a busy, busy state. It takes time, quiet time, alone time, prayerfully asking the Lord to search your heart and mind. You are looking for the things within yourself that are preventing more of God from flowing through you; you are looking for the ways that you are not obeying the Lord so that you can be more and more conformed to the image of Christ. In the 21st Century we live in a state of constant distraction. How can we ever search our heart and know its condition this way? We must learn how to quieten our spirit and listen for the voice of the Lord to deal with us.
Psalms 4:4 “Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.”
Once again, we need to commune with our own heart, this time upon our bed. Take the time to think and consider the condition of your heart before God. When was the last time you did that? This is part of the importance of a devotional, devoted life to God. Get quiet, get still, listen to Him, wait for Him to speak. We can’t say, “Gee Lord, I have a limited time here. would you please get down to business and speak to me?” It takes time and commitment, slowing down and listening. It is time devoted to listening to God speaking via prayer, via the Bible and via sermons. God is a living God and he wants to speak to us, lead us and do the supernatural through us. Joel 2:28 says he will pour his Spirit out on all flesh and believers would see dreams and visions and prophesy. This continues to be the case, but are you open to what God would do and speak? Are you waiting upon Him to speak?
It’s usually when you think about the Lord… It’s usually when you got your mind not on something else, the things of the world; or how you’re going to make a lot of money, or what kind of a big organization you’re going to build… That’s what’s the matter with the world today. We got our mind on the things of the world instead of on God.
Let’s think about God. The Bible says, “If there be any praise, there be any virtue, think on these things.” Our mind strolls off. And first thing you know, we strayed out in there somewhere, we’re thinking about something else. Let’s keep Jesus on my heart, in my mind all day long, day and night. That’s the way.[3]
Proverbs 4:23 “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
Psalms 63:1 “A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;”
Psalms 63:5-6 “My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: 6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.”
Our devotional life must not be done with a lack of passion. We must be desperate for God. We must be desperate to hear His voice speak to us. Without this desperation we miss out on many, many things. If you are not desperate then there is a problem and you need to pray for desperation to make that connection with God that transforms everything. A devoted life to God leads to a life so filled with tenderness, love and goodness that it overflows everywhere. A devoted life to God consists of someone that puts their private devotion to God first in their life. It is their number one priority knowing that anything good that comes will come out of their connection to the Holy Spirit.
[1] 57-0805 – “God Manifesting His Gifts”, Rev. William Marrion Branham
[2] 57-0127e – “Blind Bartimaeus”, Rev. William Marrion Branham
[3] 61-0124 – “Blind Bartimaeus”, Rev. William Marrion Branham
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