12/15/2025
Do you read a simple devotional each morning? Is it one that speaks the truth to you in an interesting new way, or, heaven forbid, one that takes what is comfortable for you and bends God’s truth to fit it? Finding the right author who doesn’t caudal our humanity at the peril of our spirituality is the struggle... for both the author, who might be doing harm to God’s Word, and ourselves, as we accept a possibly false premise and feel comfortable in its fallacy.
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15 ESV
Reading devotional messages can make the Bible come alive and can give us modern views on scripture that will allow us to grasp it as we see it offered in terms of our own lives. Sometimes the author allows us to borrow his words and experiences as he expresses a truth that we have been struggling to put into words of our own, but there is also danger in this as well, and we are warned to use discernment.
“these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.”
1 Corinthians 2:10-13 ESV
Over the course of my life there have been places that I have looked to when I was about to form an opinion of a new product or before selecting a purchase. These aids give us confidence and allow us to make decisions about our everyday life with some degree of comfort. You probably do the same as you look to sources such as the “GoodHousekeeping Seal of Approval”, the “Kelly Blue Book” for automobiles, or the “Consumer’s Report” for advice on broad range of items. When we are dealing with spiritual ideologies and interpretations we need similar sources of reassurance. We need to lean on the Word of God itself, seek reassurance in prayer, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is also good to seek out several established commentaries to determine commonly accepted religious thought.
“But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness,”
2 Timothy 2:16 ESV
Second Timothy speaks some words of warning to pastors, other religious workers who relate God’s Word to someone, and to devotional authors as well, but this also impacts us personally. We should find these words to be a challenge to us as individual believers; I am not only referring to what we say to others, but in what we read, hear, and allow to modify our own views of scripture... our understanding of God’s Word... our Theology. Pastor Oswald Chambers warned us of this when he wrote these words:
“The author who benefits you most is not the one who tells you something you did not know before, but the one who gives expression to the truth that has been dumbly struggling in you for utterance.” - Oswald Chambers
Theology is the study of God and religious belief, and when someone refers to “their theology”, they are referring to a very specific view of God and the religious truths, and approach, that they themselves base their own faith on. There is danger in theologies, but there is irrefutable truth and safety in God’s Word.
This year I have been rereading “My Utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers and loosely basing my writing on where this daily offering has taken me. I sought out this devotional book after careful consideration, and yet there were still some entries in it that I couldn’t agree with; that I took exception to. This is how we should ingest spiritual thought... we should mull it over, and then weigh it against the Word of God, and those other resources I spoke of earlier. It is our responsibility to make this determination; we should ask ourselves if what we have read or heard is something we believe to be true, or whether it is something we take exception to scripturally. Then, after much soul searching and the help of the Holy Spirit, perhaps we will find that it is something that has opened our eyes to a previously unseen truth and quite possibly modified our theology?
Last year I read, and wrote about the subjects contained in, “The Power of Prayer” by E.M. Bounds, and for the coming year I have chosen “The Andrew Murray Daily Reader.” You are welcome to read along with me, but at the very least you will know where my thoughts each morning might have been born. Carefully selecting a devotional book, or as some have called my writing “mini lessons”, for our daily reading can enrich us spiritually. They can move us quickly into scriptural thought and jumpstart our day’s journey into subjects of faith, but just as with any journey we take, there are decisions we must make along the way... we need to ask ourselves…do I believe this to be the way to go? Are the directions I will be given correct, and will they lead me closer to my destination, or astray?
I invite you to travel along with me over the course of the coming year, but I also ask that you not blindly follow along; you should become a fellow traveler. I ask that you not simply accept what I have written, but use the Word of God, your discernment, and various other commentary sources to ensure that you believe what I write each day to be the truth.
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,”
Philippians 2:12 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for leading me on a journey of faith through your Word and providing me with your Holy Spirit to serve as my guide. Thank you for those who write devotional messages that help guide my thought each day, but I also thank you for giving me spiritual insight that makes my journey a personal one based on your truth, and how you would want me to walk. Lead me Father; allow me to walk as if to Emmaus with Jesus Christ as my fellow traveler, and steadfast companion. Give me discernment Father that keeps me ever on the right path and which lets your Holy Word be the one true roadmap that I ultimately follow. Excursions are exciting Father but always bring me back to the main road I should be walking; those that will insure my successful arrival at where you await me. On my arrival I will shout and sing your praises, I will rejoice in a successful journey and sit at your table as we discuss the details of the trip... Great are you Holy Father, and greatly are you to be praised! Holy is your Word, and sound the discernment we receive through the guidance of Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit. Walk with me today and always as I seek to know your will and understand you better.
Amen!
Rich Forbes