Setting time aside to be with the Lord is one of the most valuable things I have learned to do for my self. Rising in the early morning (4am) to read my devotional for the day and spend time in God's Word as I sip my homemade java is also a gift to my family. I start the day grounded and sure of where my feet rest. I have learned I am dependant on my daily devotional to focus my heart and mind on the things of Christ. This is the crank that gets my spiritual wheels turning.
Last year I indulged in Dr. Charles Stanley's On Holy Ground daily devotional. I can not express enough how God used this prop as a tool coupled with my bible to speak to me. Each day I turned the page in December I was reminded that this leg of the journey was coming to an end. I began to share with the Lord my concern about my next devotional (that's how instrumental my devotionals are) and asked him to guide me in selecting the next book. Nothing at Lifeway or Borders stood out to me and so I ended the year and my devotional without knowing what would become of my morning feasts in the word.
New Years morning as I watched the Rose Parade on TV It occurred to me I had several unused journals or devotionals which I had either purchased with good intentions or had received as gifts. With child like enthusiasm I scanned the shelves hoping one would pop out at me. Though it took flipping through a few, I remember the tingle when I pulled out my lavender leather bound My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. I had heard so much about this book since I became a Christian yet, had never cracked its cover until that day.
To my great surprise and joy, the book was a year long daily devotional which began on Jan. 1st. To some this may seem insignificant. For me, this was a most loving gift from the Lord. The book had sat nestled between my commentaries and Woman of Faith hardbacks for over a year without me giving it a second glance. I feel as if the Lord saved it for that moment..."for such a time as this..." (Esther 4:14), to minister to my soul. A timely road to travel.
Excited as I was I had some reservations. After all, this book was a new tool in my hands. It was different in size and color not to mention style and font. I felt like a rider in a new saddle and prayed the transition would be smooth...not bumpy. You can imagine my thrill when I found the forward to the book was written by none other than my dear Dr. Charles Stanley! Here I was in the race of my life and two champions were handing me like a baton from one hand to the other. My heart sang with thankfulness as I read the reassuring words of a faithful guide confirming the leadership of his successor.
The shepherd does not in any way upstage the Lamb of God for me. On the contrary these faithful men push me closer to the Lord and encourage my wading deeper in his Word than I could do on my own. They are sojourners on this road of discovery and I value their knowledge of the terrain ahead as well their intimacy with our Maker. Still, it is Jesus I sit with. God I search for and the Holy Spirit I depend on for understanding.
The journey with Oswald Chambers has just begun, yet I know that I am in store for bigger and grander thinking on this road. Chambers writes for January fourth, "Never run before God gives you His direction." I assure you, waiting for the Lord...even until the eleventh hour always proves prosperous. He will not disappoint.
May 2010 be a year that my "utmost" points others to the miracle of Jesus evoking his Highest praise!
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