Chris Tiegreen - 365 Pocket Devotions: Inspiration and Renewal for Each New Day

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365 Pocket Devotions: Inspiration and Renewal for Each New Day

Copyright 2003, 2004 by Walk Thru the Bible. All rights reserved. www.walkthru.org

Adapted from At His Feet (2003) under ISBN 978-0-8423-8125-3 and The One Year Walk with God Devotional (2004) under ISBN 978-1-4143-0056-6 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

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Designed by Beth Sparkman

Edited by Karin Buursma

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. (Some quotations may be from the previous NIV edition, copyright 1984.) Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.

ISBN 978-1-4143-8789-5

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INTRODUCTION

When you spend time with God, something incredible happens. As you take a few moments to pause from the stress and hurry of everyday life to focus on God and His plan for you, you become more centered, refreshed, and at peace. Meeting with God every day transforms you. And as you grow closer to Him, youll have access to His guidance and wisdom for all the daily decisions you face.

Thats what the inspirational readings in this book are all about: renewing your soul so you can better understand yourself, your world, and your God.

In this book you will find 365 devotions first created for Walk Thru the Bible, an international ministry dedicated to igniting passion for Gods Word. The selections are arranged by days and topics. You can read through each day of the year consecutively if you wish. Alternatively, look in the index for a topic that will provide wisdom and guidance about something you may be experiencing that very day. Every few days you will also find shorter readings. These are devotions for days when time is limited.

Thank you for joining us on this quest for a deeper devotional life. It is our hope that by the end of this book, you will feel as if you have gained greater understanding about God and His Word and most important feel closer to Him than ever before.

Week 1

A reflection on KNOWING GOD

When I want to have a closer relationship with God

When we come to Jesus, we often come with only our perceived needs on our minds our circumstances, our health, our direction. We receive no rebuke from Him when we do. His words are gentle and comforting. But He also takes the opportunity to teach us about Himself. In fact, He may allow deep needs to surface in our lives specifically so we will come to Him for help and learn about Him in the process.

Gods first purpose for us is spiritual wholeness healing from the crippling disease of sin. Faith in Jesus is the key to receiving healing from God, and the Son of Man has authority over everything that afflicts us.

We come to the wonder-worker for a miracle. We leave knowing God. He is not content just helping us get by in this world and meeting only the needs we think we have. He who offers us Himself will not rest until we get up and go home knowing Him and His authority.

Some people brought to him a paralyzed man on a mat. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, Be encouraged, my child! Your sins are forgiven.

MATTHEW 9:2

A reflection on REGRET

When I feel paralyzed because of my past

Regrets can haunt us and keep us preoccupied with the past. Yet two truths will keep the past from stealing our joy in the present: our identification with Jesus and our faith in Gods sovereignty. We must remember that we stand before God on the basis of what He has done, not what we have done. And we can trust that God knew about our mistakes before the foundation of the world and planned to compensate accordingly. Nothing weve done has surprised Him. God never asked us to look back and lament about our shortcomings. We confessed when we came to Jesus that we were sinful failures, and He saved us. Its time to move forward.

Do memories of the past hound you? Take an active stance against them. Be assured that the enemys accusations are irrelevant once youve found your identity in the perfect Son of God. Find heroes of the faith in Scripture who failed its a pretty easy task and see how God sovereignly worked out His purposes in spite of their failures. Rest in the present and look forward with hope. Nothing in your past can thwart Gods plan.

Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race.

PHILIPPIANS 3:13-14

A reflection on LIGHT

When I need Jesus to illuminate my thinking

Jesus is the only light this world has ever seen. We cant find illumination anywhere else. Hes the One through whom God once said, Let there be light, and there was light. Were the ones who shrouded this planet in a sinful haze of spiritual blindness. He came back into it with all the radiance of a million suns.

Plato told an allegory of people in a cave who saw each other as shadows. They thought they could see clearly enough, because shadows were all they knew. Like Platos cave dwellers, we think were well informed; and when we encounter light, we feel the pain of brightness in our maladapted eyes. We turn back to the darkness were so comfortable with.

This world no longer has anything to offer you. Its interpretations of life are but shadows; its knowledge is untouched by the light of truth. Reject it. Do you really want understanding? Open your mind exclusively to Jesus and let Him shine.

[Jesus said,] I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.