“Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed. As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it.” Mark 4:3–4 (NLT) During your daily devotions, it’s essential to think through how to apply God’s Word to your life. Otherwise, you lose the benefit of it.  Today’s verse talks about that very issue. Jesus taught that we could spend time in God’s Word, but unless we take it into our hearts where it can grow, it can disappear just like the seeds did in today’s verse after the birds showed up.  It reminds me of some people I knew years ago. They would try to help others by walking up and quoting Bible …

Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! James 1:22 (MSG) When spending time in God’s Word, it can be easy to read a passage, draw nothing from it and move on with your day. One way to change that is to think through the application of it for your life, so it doesn’t just become random knowledge.  For example, Psalm 119:11 (NLT) says, “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” You could reflect, “This is a personal verse between God and me that says staying out of sin is a decision.”  If I’m …

Look upon me with love; teach me your decrees. Psalm 119:135 (NLT) We’ve been talking over the past several days about effective ways to do devotions. Yesterday, we discussed how reading God’s Word aloud, slowly and with expression helps it to sink into your heart.  Another worthwhile practice is to ask for Holy Spirit’s help. Before you get into devotion time in your Bible or listen to an online message, pause and say something like, “Holy Spirit, You are my teacher. Teach me.” Just ask Him outright.  You see, very few Christians access Holy Spirit. They simply don’t ask Him to help them understand or to speak to their hearts. Instead, some people prefer to play Bible roulette. They think they can just grab their …

So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ. Romans 10:17 (NLT) I love spending time doing devotions, but reading God’s Word quietly in my head doesn’t work for me. I fall asleep when I read to myself! Maybe the same thing happens to you. If so, let me share a couple of ways that I’ve found help me get God’s Word into my heart.  Today’s scripture says faith comes from hearing, so in order to listen to it, I read out loud. Now, if I’m somewhere in public where I can’t, like on a plane or in a restaurant, then I’ll read it aloud in my head. If I’m alone, I’ll mutter it audibly to myself.  I also find that …