This is in response to my first devotional reading of "The Rock, The Road, and the Rabbi" by Kathy Lee Gifford.
How has my perspective on the value and relevance of God's Word changed over the course of my life? As I have celebrated more birthdays, I am realizing how much more secure I am feeling about myself if I pursue Jesus the way I used to pursue family and relationships. I feel more satisfied with myself and my decisions.
What do you think brought about that change in perspective? When I divorced Jeff, my heart was so broken. I couldn't blame him. :( I was not close to Jesus until that night. I cried and cried and cried. My mom decided I was moving back to Texas. The whole time, I was begging Jesus to just love me. I felt no value. I wanted to die not by my own hand but I wanted to die. The next 6 months of being down and hurt and lost, I prayed. I didn't go to church. I didn't see the reason. Then, the Holy Spirit prompted me to go to work. I was with my mom in Boerne shopping. I saw a sign at Denny's and applied to be a waitress. I started my healing process.
When I turned 25, I decided I had enough of this same paycheck to paycheck kinda life. My prayer life was slowly getting better. I was attending church regularly. I was in a relationship where I expected to be married. I was in a position to be a leader. Someone said, "In order to get to know someone, you spend time with them, right? You call them. You talk to them. You spend time with them?" Yeah, I agreed. Then he said why would we not do the same with Jesus? HOW will get to know Him if we don't read about Him and talk to Him through prayer? That instilled a sense of change for me. Then, my church offered a free Bible if we committed to reading through a Chronological daily Bible Reading program. So I committed. I finally read through the entire Bible! I had never done that before. Now, I read through the Bible every year. This has caused a significant change in who I am.
How does time with God and His Word currently fit into your day? I try to listen to my Bible Passage every morning before I go to work. Most of the time, I miss out. So I try to fit it in at work. I will be honest here. I don't make it for a couple of days. I do not allow myself to fall far behind. I DO pray everyday. I also read Bible devotions that make it into my email.
What attitude do you want to have in regard to spending time in prayer and studying the Bible? I want to be INTENTIONAL! I want to intentionally listen or read my lesson. I want to INTENTIONALLY respond and worship. Jesus has been telling me to simply trust Him and I have been reaping soooo many blessings.
How is understanding the truth of God’s Word an important part of growing in your relationship with God? God has NEVER let me down. I have let Him down many many times. I know I will let Him down in the future. BUT my understanding of God is that He will ALWAYS take me back. He will ALWAYS love me! He will NEVER give up on me. God is my anchor!
What needs to change in your life to make time with God more of a priority? I am going to be INTENTIONAL. This is a skill I want to develop more in myself as a leader and as a daughter of the King!
