The beginning of a new year always encourages me to dream a little bigger.
One goal I have for 2021 is to grow in my understanding of how the words in the Bible can guide me in everyday decisions. I’ve found a devotional book that I think will be easy-to-digest (the devotionals are short enough that I’ll be able to catch up if I miss a few!) yet full of deep concepts.
Each entry in Walking With God Day By Day: 365 Daily Devotional Selections by Martyn Lloyd-Jones includes a daily scripture reading, insightful commentary, and a thought to meditate on throughout the day. Topics covered include the presence of and characteristics of angels, the prayers of Jesus, the definition of revival, and markers that indicate God’s love is in our lives.
Despite having been written in the previous century, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ language is surprisingly timeless. Consider these thoughts from November 12, in the section about understanding the love of God:
The question is, what do you do about those people who seem to irritate you and are a problem to you and who really makes things rather difficult? Here is John’s answer: “If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” This means something like this: Instead of giving way to that instinctive feeling that I have, instead of speaking or acting or reacting at once, I stop and I talk to myself. I remind myself of the Christian truth that I believe, and I apply it to the whole situation. Now that is something that you and I have to do. This life of which the New Testament speaks is full of the intellectual aspect. It is not a feeling. You do not wait until you feel like loving other people—you make yourself love other people.
A new year. A bigger dream.
And a promising daily devotional book to share with my reading friends. There are many good devotional books out there, aren’t there? Which one are you starting 2021 with?
Here with you,
Laura
