Daily Devotional Inspirations

[Sons to Glory!]

I read and meditate with a few different devotionals daily. These include "Daily Open Windows" by T. Austin Sparks; "God is Enough" by Hannah W. Smith; "The Supplied Life" by Bill Freeman; and "Daily Light" by Ann Graham Lotz (et. al.). Christians I know often send me things from other daily devotionals, such as "None but the Hungry Heart" by Miles Stanford and "Jesus Calling" by sarah Young. The Lord has spoken to me through these, and other devotional sources.

So I thought to start a thread whereby we could post things read in devotionals that touch and inspire us. And, if we choose, we can say a few words about what we were impressed or comforted from it and how it helped us pursue Christ.

Below is something I read from The Supplied Life for today.

A personal testimony - December 1st
"Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was
unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart." JEREMIAH 15:16 (KJV)

Many years ago I began to learn the secret revealed in this verse.
After being a Christian for about nine years, I came to a point
where I felt dry, discouraged, and defeated. I tried to overcome my
failing self in many areas, but found I lacked the necessary strength.
This went on for several weeks, and then somehow it occurred to me
that I should begin reading my Bible three times a day in a regular
way. So I began reading the Old Testament in the morning, Psalms
and Proverbs at noon, and the New Testament in the evening. It was
amazing to see what happened to me within one week. I discovered
that the Word of God was food! At that time the Lord impressed me
with Jeremiah 15:16.

Formerly, my time with the Lord in the Word was mainly an
exercise of my eyes and my mind. But when I discovered that the
nature of God's Word was food, I began to read the Word with a
praying spirit. The Bible became a new book in my hands. It became
a book of enjoyment, a book from which I could feed upon the living
God. I found myself reading and praying simultaneously and then
taking up a verse or a phrase and beginning to fellowship with the
Lord with the very words of Scripture. I found I did not have to strive
to find what to pray. The Word of God itself became the content of
my prayer. While doing this I found a mysterious yet real supply
spontaneously infusing my inner man. No longer was I merely
looking at black and white letters on a page or trying to mentally
understand things, which had often left me spiritually deadened. For
the first time in my Christian life, I began to enjoy God Himself in
tile pages of the Bible.

Eating three square meals a day by feeding upon the Word taught
me experientially that my inner man requires food just as my
physical body does. The reason for my defeated Christian life, I
discovered, was simply lack of nourishment. In studying the Bible
for seven years, it had become to me a book of theology, sermons
and outlines, rather than a book of enjoyment and suppl y. I realized
that the mere knowledge of the Bible could not change me. It was
only when the Bible was translated into food by my praying with and
over the verses that it turned into enjoyment rather than mere
thought. I realized then, as I do today, that one of the secrets of
spending time with the Lord is to feed upon the Word.

This is an encouragement to me to be diligent to feed on His word!