Going back to the basics

Yesterday with the church, we talked about going back to the basics of the Christian life. The fundamentals we emphasized were personal devotions & prayer.

Personal devotions refers to the time spent in the scriptures sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to him. He desires to speak to us and commune with us.

We looked at Luke 10:38-42 to discover the necessity of sitting at Jesus' feet particularly in a busy world of activity in which most of us live.

We also surveyed John 6 where Jesus explains & emphasizes himself as the "bread of life" and the "true bread from heaven".

I was particularly struck by John 6:63. By God's grace & the work of the Holy Spirit through the word, true spiritual life & growth in our spiritual life comes through the consistent exposure to and obedience to the word of God.

We also surveyed John 15:1-8 about abiding in Christ and his words abiding in us as the gateway to fruitfulness and an effective prayer life.

We finished up looking at 1 Peter 2:2 and the appetite that Christians must have for the word as if it were their very sustenance for life--that which they cannot do without.

To help us get back to the basics of personal devotions (we'll tackle prayer in two weeks on Sunday, January 10), we provided some guidelines that can be used in personal devotions to help us focus on and remember and apply what the Holy Spirit teaches us in our daily time at the feet of Jesus. We also provided a reading schedule for the first 35 days of 2010 as a tool.

Here is the reading schedule & the guidelines. May God use these in your life to "sit at the feet" of the Master Teacher.

Daily Bible Reading Plan
January 2010
The Book of 1 John & James

Day 1: 1 John 1:1-4
Day 2: 1 John 1:5-2:2
Day 3: 1 John 2:3-6
Day 4: 1 John 2:7-11
Day 5: 1 John 2:12-14
Day 6: 1 John 2:15-17
Day 7: 1 John 2:18-23
Day 8: 1 John 2:24-29
Day 9: 1 John 3:1-3
Day 10: 1 John 3:4-9
Day 11: 1 John 3:10-15
Day 12: 1 John 3:16-23
Day 13: 1 John 3:24-4:6
Day 14: 1 John 4:7-11
Day 15: 1 John 4:12-16
Day 16: 1 John 4:17-19
Day 17: 1 John 4:20-5:5
Day 18: 1 John 5:6-13
Day 19: 1 John 5:14-17
Day 20: 1 John 5:18-21
Day 21: James 1:1-11
Day 22: James 1:12-18
Day 23: James 1:19-27
Day 24: James 2:1-13
Day 25: James 2:14-26
Day 26: James 3:1-12
Day 27: James 3:13-18
Day 28: James 4:1-6
Day 29: James 4:7-10
Day 30: James 4:11-12
Day 31: James 4:13-17
Day 32: James 5:1-6
Day 33: James 5:7-12
Day 34: James 5:13-18
Day 35: James 5:19-20


Guidelines for Daily Devotions

Goal: to spend 20-30 minutes daily being nourished in the scriptures sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to him

A. Begin each time with prayer asking the Holy Spirit to speak to you and apply the word to your heart and life
B. Read the scripture provided
C. Use the following to think about & meditate on the scripture you’ve read
a. Write out word for word the verse(s) that jumped out to you as you read.
b. Write down the observations & questions that come to mind.
c. Summarize the main idea of the verse in a phrase or two
d. Write down ways to apply this verse(s) to your life.
e. How will you live differently based on the truth you have learned?
D. Pray for the Holy Spirit to help you live out the truth that you have been taught.
E. If possible, discuss your observations & questions about the passage you’ve read with family or friends.