Day 5
"You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me. Yet you will not come to me, that you may have life."
John 5:39-40
Prayer
My Lord, I see from context that the Pharisees to whom Jesus was speaking did not come to Him to receive eternal life. The Pharisees were Israel's teachers of scripture. But they were unbelievers who did not come to You in conversion. They did not come to You even though they searched and taught the scriptures.
So, one may be an avid Bible reader and still be a child of the devil as Jesus called the Pharisees in John 8:44,13,38.
But my Lord, even though I have conversion faith, I can also fail to come to you in fellowship as I read scripture. I can read about You, instead of interacting with You. Please teach me and those who read here to interact intimately with You as we read Your Holy words1.1.
If we don't have fellowship with You when reading scripture, how can we have fellowship with You in our work, in Your work or while suffering?
Your word is the point of beginning... a point of contact with You. Scripture is where Your Holy Spirit teaches us to connect with You. The heart must touch what the eye cannot see. It all depends on what happens in that very second when we come into contact with Your words. What happens in that moment determines whether our daily devotional results in intimate and powerful interaction with You or not. It is from that moment that fellowship with You unfolds.
I come to You as a child:
- "3 Most certainly I tell you, unless you turn and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 18:3, 4).
Oh Lord, You have decreed... that one must become childlike to enter the Kingdom of Heaven (verse 3). And once one has entered the Kingdom of Heaven, greatness is also achieved by being childlike (verse 4). So, if we are to mature to greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven through reading Your words, we must do it "as little children... as this little child."
Instead of reading about You in scripture, I love to interact with You in scripture. As I read your words, I can:
- offer praise
- ask for understanding
- make requests pertaining to the passage
I can even read Your words back to You, like a child1.1. You have sent Your Holy Spirit to live within me, to teach me all things3.3... to answer my questions... to teach me how to abide in You.
Through prayer, I can walk by the Spirit4.7 as I read scripture.
You deserve all praise!
Amen.
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About this Devotional
You are reading the Walk by the Spirit Daily Devotional Series, which is subchapter 3.7 of the free, online book Fellowship with God in the Sixth Path. In the Walk by the Spirit Daily Devotional, readers learn how to how to walk by the Spirit. Walking by the Spirit is one way the New Testament describes fellowship with God, the subject of this online book.
Fellowship with God in the New Covenant is defined as, "a two way conversation in the spiritual realm, as we follow Christ, bearing His yoke in the world". The area below the white section on this page will reveal every word and phrase in that definition, from the scriptures.
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