Time with Jesus

by Candace Joy
from Virtuous Daughters, January 2008~Volume 7, Number 10

Our time with the Lord is the most important time of each day. I hope that the following comments will help you to draw closer to God.
  
​Here are some essential elements of personal devotions:

—Bible Reading
   “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”—2 Timothy 3:16–17
   “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”—Matthew 4:4
   “Your words were found, and I did eat them; and your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart: for I am called by your name, O LORD God of hosts.”—Jeremiah 15:16
   “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.”—Job 23:12b
   The Bible is our spiritual food. It is at least as important to our spiritual life as food is to our physical life. We need it to grow in our spiritual walk with God.
   “Order my steps in your word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.”—Psalm 119:133
   “Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.”—Psalm 119:105
   God’s Word shows us how we should live.
   “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby:”—1 Peter 2:2
   Reading God’s Word is very important; however, it will not profit us if we do not read as to obey. It is much better to read 2 verses and put them into practice in our lives than to read 2 chapters and do nothing with them.
   “But be you doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like to a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholds himself, and goes his way, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was. But whoever looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”—James 1:22–25
  
—Meditating on the Word
   “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law does he meditate day and night.”—Psalm 1:2
   “This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; but you shall meditate therein day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.”—Joshua 1:8
   “O how I love your law! it is my meditation all the day.”—Psalm 119:97
   Meditate means “to think about, to study, to ponder” (from Strong’s Concordance). God’s Word should be a main theme of our thoughts. I find that the Holy Spirit often helps me to understand the meaning or application of a passage when I am meditating on it, not just when I read it through the first time.

—Bible Memorization
   “Your word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”—Psalm 119:11
   “The entrance of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.”—Psalm 119:130
   Memorizing God’s Word “hides it in our hearts.” One way that God can use memorized Scripture in our lives is by bringing it to our minds when we are being tempted. The Bible is part of the spiritual armor (the Sword of the Spirit—Ephesians 6:17) that God gives us for spiritual warfare. When this armor is in our hearts, we can be prepared to use it at all times.
 
   —Prayer
   “Pray without ceasing.”—1 Thessalonians 5:17
   This verse alone should show us that God wants us to pray to Him. For added encouragement, though, I will include a few of the many instances that the Bible records that Jesus, our perfect example, took time to pray:
   “And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.”—Matthew 14:23
   “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.”—Mark 1:35
   “And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.”—Luke 6:12
   “And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am?”—Luke 9:18
 
I want to encourage you to spend your time with the Lord in the morning, as the first thing that you do when you wake up every day. I know from personal experience that if I do not start my day with God, the day just doesn’t go as well as it could. I also find myself more vulnerable to temptation. (If for some reason you cannot have your devotions in the morning, that is okay, as long as you take time for them sometime in the day. I am just sharing what is most helpful for me.)
   May each of you grow closer to Him!