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"Coram Deo"
"Before the face of God"
One of the most
important aspects of our devotional life is to have a consistent regular time set aside to
be with the Lord. I have covered that on my
page here, but there are some very practical things we can do to enhance that time and to
increase our knowledge and track our growth. How we do that practically is to keep a
"Devotional" or "Spiritual Journal" of each day's devotions, Bible reading and study, and prayer
time. First and foremost, you must set aside a time of the day, whether it is early
morning or late evening to have this devotional time and you must be as consistent as
possible.
Here is the method I
use and it has worked very well for me over the years.
1. You can buy
journals very reasonably in all different kinds of bindings. Buy a journal
(preferably something pretty) that has plain paper. There are ones that include
dates as well. You can also make one yourself if you have nice heavy backing
(lots of it in the craft stores), cut a stack of paper to fit, punch the holes and tie it
all together with some lovely ribbon. You can try it several different ways and
after several years of journaling, you will find all kinds of neat ideas to use.
2. Example of
the order I use:
Bible Reading
*BR:
|
Genesis 1-3; John
1-3
Psalm 1; Proverb 1
(31 Proverbs 1 for each day) |
Bible Study
*BS: |
Short study of what
I have read |
Devotional
Books
*DR: |
Tabletalk**,
Morning & Evening, Valley of Vision or other daily devotional
book. |
Bible
Verse
Memorization |
Verse of the week; Proverb or Psalm of the week for memorization. |
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Prayer |
A regular list:
Husband, children, family, church, brethren, friends, missions, gospel, special
needs as they arise or are known. |
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Book |
I usually have
several books going at once so depending upon the time, I read a chapter or so. |
Notes
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Short list of
special verses, things to look up and study later, write in my own words what I see in the
passages. |
Other
Study Tools:
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Audio Bible; Bible Reading Tapes; Hymnals, Christian poetry/
prayers and studies from Bible study at church.
*For the sake of space, I use abbreviations in the journals.
** my
favorite |
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This
is the guideline I use, but you will need to work on a plan that will work for you and one
that you will do consistently. If you miss a day, you will know it. The
spiritual enrichment you will gain will far exceed anything you can imagine and you will
be such a blessing to others!
Spiritual Journal
for Children:
Teaching our children to keep a spiritual journal of their
quiet time with the Lord is another way in which we can “train our
children” to love the Lord and grow in grace and their relationship with
Him.
You can use this journal as a supplement to their
“Bible” class and/or if homeschooling, you can make it a part of their
class or homework assignment.
Work out a system that works well for you and for your
children so they will learn to love this special time with the Lord and to
progress in their personal walks with Him.
Have
them create their own journals in their “art” class or as a family
project using their own artwork as covers, filled with paper and tied with
bows for girls, shoestrings, etc. for boys using their own creativity in
their design. |
