God walked and talked with Adam and Eve
in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day.
Would you like to have that kind of relationship with God? You can have it; you just have to make it a
priority and invest the time and attention required. And A CLOSER WALK can help!
A CLOSER WALK is an introspective
journey through life in the form of a daily devotional journal. Start each day with a scripture from the word
of God. Read how that scripture applies to everyday life. This is God, walking
and talking with you. Then journal your
thoughts and the answers to introspective questions to see how the scripture
applies to your life personally. This is
where you are responding to Him, telling him how you are willing to apply His
word in your life. Finally, there is a prayer.
Prayer changes things. It changes
your walk. The end result of this
introspective journey is a closer walk with God as you go hand in hand through
life.
You don’t have to wait until the first
of the year. Turn to whichever day it
happens to be and begin. At the beginning of the next year, you can go through
the book again, read your answers and see how your life has changed. The journey starts now….
EXCERPTS
JANUARY 1
“The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there
He put the man whom He had formed.”
Genesis 2:8
God said, “Let there be light”, and
there was. He said, “Let the waters and the earth bring forth abundance” and
they did. Creation took very little
effort on God’s part. He simply spoke
and it happened. Why then, did God PLANT
a garden in Eden? He didn’t say, “Let a
garden appear”; the Word says He planted one.
God put some effort into this when we know He didn’t have to, to show us
in the very beginning that He was willing to give of Himself for us. How special we are to God!
What gifts
and talents has God planted in you? Are you watering and nurturing your garden
so these will grow and bear fruit? ______________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Whose life
can you plant into? Is there someone who needs to know they are special to you?
What can you do that you don’t have to, to show them you care?
___________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
My thoughts
on the subject: _____________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Lord, Thank
you for giving of Yourself for me. Thank
you for all you’ve planted into my life.
Help me nurture it and cause it to grow.
Help me to plant into the lives of others and show them the kind of love
that you have shown me. In Jesus’
name. Amen.
FEBRUARY 8
“For I, the Lord, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities
of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those
who hate Me.”
Exodus 20:5
I never knew this whole quotation until
I just read it for myself. Whenever I
have heard this verse quoted, it always stopped after “to the third and fourth
generation”. But that last part, “of
those who hate Me” is very important. I could not conceive of a loving and just God punishing
innocent grand- and great-grandchildren for something an ancestor they never
even knew had done. But when you read
the whole verse: “to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me,” it
suggests a hate of the Lord that was passed down from generation to
generation. A loving and just God could
not allow that to go unpunished. What a
difference a few words make. How often,
I wonder, do we partially quote a verse and change its whole meaning?
Colossians
3:18 is also often partially quoted as, “Wives submit yourselves unto your own
husbands.” How is the meaning changed
when you add the rest of the verse, “as it is fit in the Lord”?
__________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
How likely
are alternate versions of the Bible to change the meaning of scriptures by changing
words to simplify the text? __________________________
My thoughts
on the subject: _____________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Lord, help me
not to misquote or partially quote your Word. Forgive me for the times I have
done this in ignorance. Help me
recognize error when I hear it. In
Jesus’ name. Amen.
FEBRUARY 21
“…that he shall confess that he has sinned in that
thing;”
Leviticus 5:5
Here God is telling us that our
confessions must be specific. A blanket
confession won’t do. If we know we have
sinned but are not sure in which thing we have committed the sin, we need to
ask God to first reveal it to us, then we need to confess it. It is much easier to say, “Forgive me Lord,
for I have sinned” without naming the specific sin. Naming the sin requires
humility. It requires the
acknowledgement that I have done this specific thing that was not pleasing to
God. True repentance requires the
humility that takes place when one says, “Forgive me Lord, for my sin of (fill
in the blank) against you.”
How sorry
for a sin are you if you won’t even name it? _______________________
How likely
are you to commit the same sin again if it remains unidentified?
________________________________________________________________________
My thoughts
on the subject: _____________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Lord, please forgive me for
the sin of blanket confession. Please
bring to my attention and remembrance all I have done that was not pleasing to
you that I might confess each thing.
Make me truly sorry for each specific sin and help me not to commit them
again. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
SEPTEMBER 19
“Immediately the father of the child
cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief.’” Mark
9:24
That sounds like a contradiction, doesn’t it? It isn’t. It is actually a statement of faith. Have you ever believed God was able to do something, but wasn’t sure he would? That’s what this man was saying. “Lord, I believe you can. Help me to believe you will.” We all have doubts from time to time. All God wants is for us to take those doubts to Him as this father did. Remember “Doubting” Thomas from John chapter 20? “Unless I put my hands in the nail wounds, I will never believe.” When Jesus allowed him to do just that, he was the first to declare, “My Lord and my God.” Jesus didn’t condemn Thomas for doubting. He removed the doubt when Thomas brought it to him. Take your doubts to God and let Him remove them. You already know He can – you’re halfway there. Let Him show you He will.
What are you doubting God will do for you? Use this space to bring it to
Him now. ___________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Come back to this page when He does it for you and write the date and a
word of praise on this line.
____________________________________________________
My
thoughts on the subject: _____________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. I know you can. Help me to know you will. Then let me give you all the praise and doubt no more when it is accomplished in my life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Lord willing, A CLOSER WALK will be coming out in late 2027 or early 2028. It's never to late to have a closer walk with Jesus!
No comments:
Post a Comment