93 Days of Devotion

Sorry I missed yesterday. I had a big day at the courthouse. No, I wasn't on trial, or jury duty, or a key witness. Melinda and I had to go before a judge and testify to our desire and ability to be Seven's parent's! We told the judge, "We are all in!" It is official! We are parent's and nothing can change that now and forever!!!!

Matthew 22:37-38, “Jesus replied, “’You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.”

Life = Devotion to God. We cannot live life without devotion. It is human nature to devote oneself to whatever endeavor, task, project or otherwise. The reality is we want to be devoted to something. I am convinced that if all people could experience real life knowing God they would devote themselves to Him. Yet, there are so many barriers to devotion as a result of devotion to break. Think about it, some people are so devoted to their misconstrued ideas of Jesus, the Bible and etc they cannot or will not experience how awesome life can be. But for those who open the shutters and reach for devotion life is very sweet.

"And all the believer's devoted themselves to the Apostle's doctrine...," Acts 2:42

Devotion to God includes being devoted to His Word. The Word of God is the very essence, character and nature of God played out for us to learn, read and, most of all, fall in love with. The Bible is this huge love story complete with twists, turns, events and cliffhangers. Stop reading it as a text book, and start reading it as the greatest true story every written, because it was written to you.

Read it in a year; find a devotional to read it through with; read a proverbs a day; read the new testament with an emphasis on Jesus Christ; read chapters and look for leadership, parenting, wisdom, trust; read it and look for betrayal; read the bible and look for love, hope, help; read it and find Life.

Real life equals devotion to God! "Jesus, the Word of God, became flesh and dwelt among us." Look for the character, the beauty and the artistic impressions that only the Word of God can give. For centuries the greatest artists painted, wrote and instrumented what they read in the Bible. Have we minimized it to a self help book, only to be used in a crisis?

Pick up your bible and read it as it was meant to be read. It is meant to exhort you, convince you, and rebuke you. Read it for the thrill of it, the stories playing out as if you've never known them. When you read the bible and devote yourself to it you'll experience Life with a capital L.

A short prayer. May the Word of God come alive to you like never before. May you see the beauty, the tragedy, the pain and the victory through the eyes of a child. May you know how crazy God is about you. May you see His passion. May you never forget the work and plans he has set forth in your life. May you experience the Holy Spirit. May you believe, trust, long, linger, question, seek, find, knock, rest...May you know the truth, and may it set you free.