About the Devotional
My friend, this 30-day daily devotional is an invitation and a challenge for
you that I believe will change your life! Over the next 30 days, I’d like for you
to explore greater intimacy with God. God wants you whole. He wants you to
live with peace that surpasses understanding and an unshakeable confidence in
what he has done for us. Too often we live life in resistance and we miss out on
the fullness of the season we’re in because we’ve yielded to wrong thinking and
believing which results in defeat, guilt, fears and addictions. Trials come when
we allow the busyness, stressors and distractions of life to overwhelm us and draw
us away from what we know to be true.
Sometimes God infiltrates our cozy Christianity with His unconventional
methods so that we can emerge better for it. When you make a bold decision
to set your mind to believe in God’s love for you, you will let go of the life of
heaviness and defeat and pursue your divine destiny full of victory, security and
success. No matter where you are at or what challenges you face, God is a precise
God with perfect timing. Just like you would find encouragement and renewed
perspective from a coach, invite Jesus to an intimate chat with you. Meet with
God with an expectant heart and allow God’s Word to refresh and reshape your
thinking, speaking and decision making.
As you begin, reflect on the season you’re in. This is merely an exercise
to assist you in proactively partnering with God. Once you have a sense of the
season you’re in, let the scripture references and daily devotional provide a
context of how Jesus, your coach, might inspire and encourage you where you
are. I’ve noticed that the Holy Spirit tends to show up in many ways and often
when you least expect Him, so be open to cultivating new ways of hearing His
voice and sensing His presence. All I ask is that over the next 30 days you set
aside 15-30 minutes with the Lord to discover what season he has you positioned
in and how he wants you to discover personal restoration and revival where
you are.
Here is a breakdown of how God helped me to hear and how you might
approach this book:
1. God is your coach! God is a champion in your absence and a friend
always. In other words, no matter how many times you may neglect
or run from God, he has never wavered in his love for you. He
delights in you and enjoys spending time with you just like you
would experience with your best friend. If you can view God as
all his wonderful names, but particularly during this devotional as
your greatest counselor, guide or coach, this grants you permission
to come boldly to him with your questions, cares and hearts desires.
He’s always ready to meet with you.
“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the
government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace”
(New American Standard, Isaiah 9:6).
2. There is a time and season for everything. Discerning the voice of God is
a divine mystery because it is the supernatural work the Holy Spirit does
in us. There is no formula that gives us 100 percent accuracy in hearing
from God, but growing in wisdom and discernment is something that
we can ask God for and it is something we can practice and mature in.
We tend to struggle when we compare our season to someone else’s,
when we resist where we are or when we become frustrated because
we can’t see God working in our circumstances. God is always working
whether we are aware of it or not. What we all can become practiced at
is working our seasons with all diligence rather than resisting them. For
example, if we are in a season of development, it would be healthy or
wise to approach the season like you’re supposed to be flourishing. God
started his mighty work in you and he is faithful to complete it. Will you
be content in encounters with Him and fully convinced of His goodness
or will you frustrate the grace He’s given?
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under
the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and
a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to
heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and
a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast
away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace,
and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to
sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a
time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace” (King James Version,
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).
Reflect on the season God may have you in right now. This exercise
will support your process of being fully present where God has you.
While we may often find ourselves sowing in every season, there are
also, times that are primarily about preparing us for the next level in God
or maturing what we’ve learned. For example, if you are in a season of
development, it would be healthy or serve you well to try to harvest, but
bloom where you’re planted. If you can discern you season, you won’t
be tempted to run out ahead of God or get overwhelmed in the waiting.
Here are some examples of seasons:
Sowing-a season of development in one of more areas of your life. We can’t
expect a harvest if we are not planting any seeds. This is a season where
you are intentional about what and where you are sowing because you’ve
received glimpses through your eyes of faith of what God’s promised.
Growing-a season of maturing and preparing for your what’s to come.
Sometimes we think we’re ready for so much more than our character
and soul capacity can manage. This is a season of tests and trials to bring
to light where your faith is, where you have room to grow and how you
can deepen your experience with God.
Blossoming-a season of breakthrough into a new level, anointing
or intimacy with God. We love hearing messages about victory and
elevation, but when it comes, we can’t be trying to get prepared, we
must be ready to act. An example of this could be when a someone
seemingly out of nowhere and no way emerges from an unknown
lifestyle to a public platform. The elevation however is not as instant as
it seems but often reflects years of sowing and growing. Now without
the same covering as before, it is important in this season to maintain
the character and integrity disciplines that keep you strong and stable in
God and ready to move at a moment’s notice.
3. Pray always! Prayer is one of the best ways to open your heart completely
to what the Holy Spirit wants to teach you and the way he wants to
teach it. In our own understanding we are limited in our knowledge
of God’s character and His purposes. As we embrace opportunities
to process with him and pray through what we’re facing, we become
greater receivers of who God is and what God has for us. For the next
30 days, set you mind focusing on your relationship with the Lord.
Invite God into your life using the PRAY model to heighten your
spiritual senses.
“This is the confidence that we have in approaching God: that if we ask
anything according to his will, he hears us” (New International Version,
1 John 5:14).