Day In and Day Out

“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” – 2 Corinthians 10:5.

In the Pray First – a Personal Prayer Guide, there is a section entitled Order and Obedience – Present Your Day to God. That is the subject of this devotional.

Have you ever been in the middle of your day and wondered what God’s will is for your life? You need to make a difficult decision and wondered what God wanted you to do in that situation. Or maybe it was a typical day and you are wondering whether you are honoring God with your day. The Bible instructs us to glorify God all the time. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31) But what does that actually mean? How can we glorify God every day and all day long?

It means we glorify God with our thoughts, with our words, in our deeds, with our attitude, in good times and bad, at work and at play. We offer words of praise and we pray daily?  It is easy to look at our Christian walk with a longer view, rather than in daily terms. The Christian life is a journey, yet we should daily try to live a life of obedience in the power of the Holy Spirit and demonstrate our first love for our Lord. If we do those two things, the Holy Spirit will guide you in the daily, moment-by-moment decisions and actions of your life.

“Teach me your ways, O LORD, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, that I may honor you.” (Psalms 86:11 NLT)

The Psalmist expresses a spiritual truth that is difficult for us because our natural and learned behaviors tend to be more focused toward self. It is only by surrendering ourselves, completely to the power and control of God that we are able to think and live in ways that bring honor to God, whether hourly, daily or monthly.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 NIV

The Fruit of the Spirit is God teaching us His ways of living. As we surrender ourselves to Him, He begins to change us on the inside, to teach us how to live a life that will honor Him. He is not just giving us knowledge, the Spirit is changing our hearts and that change begins to flow out of our life. We begin to love as God loves. We have the joy of God. We have a greater peace than we had before. We begin to be more and more patient as we trust in God for our lives. It is the natural process of surrendering everything to God and receiving His gift of a pure heart that helps us present our day to God.

“Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.” (Psalm 25:5)

Discussion Questions:

1. Read Mark 1:35–39: How would you describe Jesus’ typical day? How does it compare to your typical day? 
2. Describe what you think it must have been like for the disciples to have a day by day walk with Jesus. How does that compare to the kind of day by day walk we are called to have?
3. Talk about the biggest roadblocks you face in persisting in a day by day walk with Jesus?
4. Make a list of one or two spiritual practices (prayer, Bible reading, devotional time, serving, etc.) Over the next 6 days pick one of those things to work on each day.