Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Has your devotional life started to feel dry but you just keep going, you plot on because you know this is what you're supposed to do. Or maybe you just didn't even know that your devotional life was supposed to be life giving and revelatory. You just thought you were checking a box. Today we're going to talk about how to engage with God for a vibrant devotional life and how to protect it from just becoming another religious duty. God has so, so much more for you. Let's get started.
[00:00:31] Speaker B: If you're tired of leading others while secretly battling doubt, discouragement and mental warfare
[00:00:36] Speaker A: and you want practical tools to renew your mind and walk boldly in your
[00:00:40] Speaker B: calling as a leader, you're in the right place. Welcome to Believe and become.
[00:00:44] Speaker A: We're Josh and Corina your spirit filled coaches here to help you overcome those limiting beliefs and lead others confidently.
[00:00:51] Speaker B: If you're ready to hear God's voice more clearly, to step into your purpose and find joy and strength in the
[00:00:56] Speaker A: everyday silence, those Bible app reminders judging you from your lock screen and let's jump in.
[00:01:08] Speaker B: So you want to hear God's voice again and you want clarity in your purpose, but you feel stuck and might be thinking is that God's voice or just me?
[00:01:17] Speaker A: Listen, it doesn't have to be this way. Our Clarity coaching program is designed to reconnect you to God's voice voice and demolish those lies trying to hold you back.
[00:01:26] Speaker B: As you work with us, you'll learn our simple, proven five step process for overcoming lies and limiting beliefs and reconnecting with God's truth.
[00:01:35] Speaker A: We'll give you the tools you need to succeed, to move forward with confidence and stay plugged in to God's voice.
[00:01:41] Speaker B: Book your Clarity coaching session today to build confidence in your identity in Christ and move forward in your purpose.
[00:01:48] Speaker A: Just go to joshandkarina.com coaching that's J-O-S-H-A-N-C O R-I N and book your first session now I remember there was a
[00:02:00] Speaker B: time in my life when my devotions felt so dry and I knew I needed to connect with God. I knew I needed him. I needed to get filled up and the only answer I ever got from other people was read your Bible more, pray more.
And that was kind of good. Like I would get up super early in the morning, I would open my bible and I would just bleary eyed read my chapter, write something in my journal and it made me feel better about myself because I checked off a box that I was supposed to meet with God, but it really didn't change me very much. Like I would get a little bit out of it, but I never got that really, that transformation that I was looking for that I desperately needed that connection with God. And I realized that I had the complete wrong idea about why I read my Bible, why I pray. It's not to get something from God, but it's just to connect with him. We desperately need that relationship, that heart to heart connection with God every single day. We need to connect with Him. And the point of doing devotions isn't just to check a box.
It's to connect with the heart of God, is to have him speak into your life and to move powerfully. And so actually I just want to break off any notion off of you that you're checking a box or there's a religious duty to read your Bible or pray. It should be a joy for us to connect with the God of the universe. When we read our Bibles, the author shows up. He shows up and he wants to speak to you.
And so I just want to release freedom over you and grace that your devotion life can look completely different. And starting today, there's a grace being released over you. To have a love for God's word and a passion for his presence like never before.
[00:04:03] Speaker A: I remember when I had our. I believe it was our second son.
I had always done, like, started the, like, read your Bible in a year plans. You know, that was like my unicorn.
[00:04:17] Speaker B: Right.
[00:04:18] Speaker A: Like, it was a thing that I was gonna do someday and I would keep trying, like every January I was like, okay, I got a new plan. I remember even being probably in late elementary, middle school maybe and getting a new, like, student Bible. And it had the, the little list in the front with all of the boxes that you could actually check. And like when you read the chapter. Yeah. And then like, you know, by, like, I don't know, definitely by numbers. I was like, right. I was, I.
And so it was kind of this thing for me where I always felt like, I love Jesus, I wanna spend time with him, but devotions feel hard.
[00:04:56] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:57] Speaker A: And I remember when I had our second son, I decided that whenever I was nursing, I was going to read my Bible. And that was it. It wasn't like this, you know, I didn't have this huge plan, but I did open my. At that point, I think we actually had the Bible app. And so I opened my Bible app and I found a read your Bible in whatever. And I just started checking, like, checking them off however much time I had. And if I missed a day or two or whatever, I forgot, I just would pick up where I left off. And I actually ended up, I think, reading through the whole Bible. It wasn't in a year, but it was more like 18 months. And it was the first time I had ever been able to do it. But there was so much grace in the way that I approached it. Instead of, like, I missed my five chapters yesterday and today I have to read 10. You know, it was more like, all right, I'm just gonna move on to the next thing. There's this great little button that just catches you up, you know, and puts you right back to, like, you haven't missed anything. And so that's what I would do. And I just found that when I was gracious with myself in my devotional time, it really brought more life to it. And it felt like I was actually feeding my soul instead of trying to complete or do the homework that I was assigned. And so it was just really a sweet time for me, really. As I engaged with the Lord through that. That year and a half, so many
[00:06:21] Speaker B: Christians, there's, like, this unspoken shame.
I struggle with reading my Bible, but I can't tell anybody at church. Like, I would get in, you know, there'd be so much judgment, or I'm struggling to pray. I'm just struggling with my devotion. So we just want to break off in shame right now that. I mean, that's really common. Actually. A lot of people struggle with that. And even if you were reading your Bible and just experiencing the Lord every day, sometimes there's just a season, something happens, something changes, difficult circumstance, life or whatever it is, new job, it disrupts our routine, and then we kind of fall out of it, and then we feel super guilty. Well, there's no condemnation in Christ.
He set you free from all that. He doesn't look down and go, oh, you didn't read your Bible. He's not judging you for that. God's heart is for you, and he just wants to connect with you. He wants to love on you. And that's really all it is about. And we just want to remove all the pressure. There's no performance with God. He already paid the price to make you right with himself.
You are loved. You're a son, a daughter of God, and he just looks on you with pride, with love.
Regardless of. Did you read your Bible today?
Of course. We always want to connect with him. It's all about relationship. God is about relationship. Your performance, your behavior is really secondary. He just Wants to get to know you, wants you to know him.
[00:07:47] Speaker A: So I was working with a client recently, and we were working on hearing God's voice. And she. I think it was like the second or third week we met. I said, how did this week go? And, you know, were you able to spend time with him? What did that look like? And she's like, well, at the beginning of the week, it was really good. But, you know, then at, like, the third day, I don't know, it just didn't click. And I just. I felt kind of poopy the whole rest of the week. And I was like, okay.
So we had this conversation about, what does a successful quiet time actually look like? Like, what are you actually hoping to get from that time? What made those first couple of days feel like it was a good devotional time? And then the rest of the week felt like, meh. And she was like, oh, that's an interesting question. Right? Because we tend to put this measure of, that was good or that was bad. I heard from God, I got goosebumps, I got fresh revelation, or I didn't. Right? And there must be some. I must be doing something wrong. And then we start to go through the list of, like, why was yesterday better than today? Or why was. Why did that thing seem like it was what God wanted? But then now, today I feel like maybe I'm doing something that God doesn't want, you know? And so it was just this really good moment to say, your obedience equals success.
So your willingness to step into that time with Jesus, to open your heart to him, to listen to his voice, to open the word, to worship, to pray, whatever it looks like, that is success, it's not about any of those other things. And so I think it's important as we talk about devotions, as we talk about quiet time or whatever you want to call it, that meeting with the Lord that we do on a regular basis, there's no metric.
There's no, like, this equals a good one and this equals a bad one. Unless you're, like, purposefully sitting and refusing to listen and like, I will do this only because.
And you're the one having a bad attitude. I just think God is really excited to meet with you. And I always like to just ask him, when I feel like something I'm doing isn't. Wasn't good, I'm just like, God, what did you think about that?
You know, because he's always willing to just say, well, this is what I thought, you know? And it's almost. It's Pretty much always good.
He's always like, I'm so glad you came today. Like, I just. I just loved hanging out with you, you know? And so recognizing that is not good or bad. It's just obedience. I think that's really important.
[00:10:25] Speaker B: I think in our culture, we're very goal oriented, success oriented. What did we accomplish? It's all about, what did I accomplish today? And so we kind of come into our time with the Lord saying, I'm going to accomplish something. And God, he doesn't care. He's like, did we spend time together? That's what I wanted. I just wanted to connect with your heart. And so it changed for me. It changed my whole view about the time that I spend with the Lord. Yeah, it's not to read so many chapters. It's not to pray for so many minutes or to check off my prayer list or get through the Bible in a year or whatever it is.
It's not about that. It's about connecting with the Lord. And we have to realize that the time that we spend with God is spiritual. It's a spiritual act. So in Western culture, we've kind of said in the church, well, we don't want to get too spiritual, which I think is hilarious. But that's kind of how I grew up. I didn't even realize I had this worldview of, yes, we believe in God, but we stay away from anything that's too spiritual. Well, by definition, our connection with the Lord is spiritual. Our spirits connect to the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us. And that's how he communicates with us. And so sometimes we may sit down and not feel anything. We love it when we sit down with God. And, oh, I just felt his presence. I felt so connected. I felt his love, his peace.
That's amazing. And that's going to happen most of the time, really, when we're really connected with Him. Or sometimes you want to sit down and open your Bible and you get this revelation. Oh, all these verses connected. And I just. I felt like I really understood it. I gained some knowledge about God, which. That's great, too. There's nothing wrong with that. But really, even if none of that happens, sometimes something happens in the spirit that we don't realize. So maybe you're not aware of it with your physical senses. You didn't feel anything. You didn't think, hear, see, smell anything. Right. We didn't know that anything happened. But we received by faith that I connected with God in the Spirit. He deposited something in me that changed me. We can't come into God's presence and not be changed. And so even if it felt like nothing happened, I like to say, God, I just received by faith.
I got what I needed for today. I got my daily bread from you. Even if it felt kind of like it was just me by myself. I mean, sometimes that happens, and that's okay. But God, he shows up. We just trust that he shows up. He deposits in you what you need for that day. So sometimes I read my Bible and I go, okay, I'm not sure what God was saying to me today, but I trust I got what I needed. And maybe I'll understand it later. Maybe it won't make sense in my brain, but I know in my spirit that I got what I needed.
[00:13:19] Speaker A: Yeah, I love that spirit to spirit connection, because that is what it's all about. Really.
[00:13:24] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:13:25] Speaker A: I think the more aware we become of the Spirit and what the Holy Spirit is doing in us or what he's doing in the moment, the more we actually experience it with our senses, right? The more that I become aware and I say, God, what are you doing? Even when I come into a church service, especially as a worship leader, you know, being up on the stage on a Sunday morning, leading a congregation, I am constantly going, God, what are you doing?
What do you want to say? What do you want to express to your people today? Because I want his heart for the room. But that was something that I learned how to do on the stage and didn't always bring into my own quiet time. And so bringing that into my time with the Lord and saying, God, what are you doing in me? What are you doing in my life? It makes you so much more aware of what the Spirit is actually doing. And then the experience you have, you tend to have that more often because you're more connected spirit to spirit. I think it's also important that we treat our relationship with God just like any other relationship. And I think this is something that we get wrong in the church or we have gotten wrong in the church for so long. Because it's like you have to read your Bible for this much and you have to pray for this long. And don't forget to worship and do the duty, right? Like, do the thing that you're supposed to do so that you can be a better Christian. But I think really what God desires is a relationship. And when I think about our relationship or my relationship with my mom or my best friend, it's not something that I'm like, oh, check the box. I mean, sometimes I'm like, oh, I forgot to call them and I wanted to talk to them today, or I need to send that text message to encourage someone. But really I think it is about consistent communication. It is about connection more than anything. And I think that, you know, we have days when we're super busy and we don't get to just like, how are you feeling? And what's going on with you today?
And that doesn't mean we're not married anymore, and it doesn't mean that we're gonna be mad at each other. It just means we had a busy day. And so, you know, the time we get to connect is minimal. But then there are the times that we set aside to go out for date night or to, to hang out for a weekend, or, you know, we get to have lunch together and we get to spend more quality time together. And I think that's the same thing with God where it's, it's a relationship. It's just like sending the text throughout the day like, oh my gosh, you're never gonna believe what happened. Or like, hey, I'm really struggling. Can you pray for me? It's with God where you're like, hey, God, this is going on right now. What do you think about it? Or what should I do? And you can communicate with him throughout your day, but then you also have those moments that you set aside that daily connection where you check in and you get what you need, the daily bread. You get that emotional spiritual connection that you need with him, but not because you're supposed to. We don't want to create an environment. You don't want to create an environment in your relationship with God where you're only coming to him when you need something or you're only coming to him, him just to get something. You want to create a relationship that is vibrant and life giving, then it has to be that consistent communication, that heart to heart connection, meeting with him on a regular basis.
[00:16:35] Speaker B: I love this idea that you can go on a date with God, go for a walk with him, go to the mall, go out to dinner. We've had friends that said, I'm going to go get ice cream with the Lord, do a workout with him. I love to invite Jesus into my workouts and just have a conversation with him while I'm in the gym. It can be just doing life with him, but intentionally focusing your mind. God is with me, Jesus is speaking to me. It's neat that we get to do life with God.
[00:17:02] Speaker A: Yeah. And I love that your spirit can always be aware of what the Holy Spirit is doing. And because it is a spirit to spirit connection, then you can be aware of that at any moment. Whatever you're doing, you have that capacity. Because we are spiritual beings. We are made by body, soul and spirit. And so our spirit can connect to the Holy Spirit and we can be in that consistent, constant communication and relationship with him.
[00:17:28] Speaker B: Yeah. And it just takes practice, really. The more that you practice that, the easier that it gets.
[00:17:33] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:17:34] Speaker B: And we just want to release God's grace over you right now.
There's no perfect way to do devotions. And it's okay if today felt bad or like you didn't connect with the Lord. That's okay.
God has grace for you. It's okay if you miss a day.
Right? Just don't stop having time. Like so many times, oh, no, I missed two or three days in a row. I'm so guilty. And then we come with repentance, and sometimes we need to repent, But God just. He just wants you back. So just pick up where you left off.
[00:18:06] Speaker A: I think I found the greatest breakthrough in my devotional time when I got rid of the idea that I had to look a certain way and that I had to do it every single day without fail. Because my. Maybe it's just my personality or my tendencies, but I felt guilty when I would miss a day. And I would always. I think.
And this probably comes from being raised in church too, especially in high school. It's like, you have to read your Bible, you have to pray. You gotta get those. The devotions in. And you get this mentality of it's something I have to do, I have to do my homework, I have to check the box however you wanna look at it. But it felt like this pressure, this weight that I was carrying of having to meet with God. And this, I think where that religious duty comes in, where you feel like it's something I have to do or God's not, or I'm gonna have a bad day. This is my favorite. Oh, I didn't meet with God today, so I had a bad day. I'm like, God was with you anyway. You didn't have to have a bad day. You could have still had a good day. Right. Or. Or that thing that I wanted didn't hap. Isn't gonna happen now. And we have these ideas that. That God's only gonna do for us because we have been some sort of like. Like, you know, religious robot for him. And. And that was really hard for me. And. And so I would get in this, you know, you would go to camp or you would have really great service, and then you'd be like, I am gonna. This is the. The time I am gonna be so disciplined. I am gonna get up early and I'm gonna do my quiet time. And, you know, that works for so long. But if you're not a morning person, that's not happening. Or if you stayed out too late, or then later on, it's like, we have kids and we have obligations and jobs and all of these things. And so it was just this pattern in my life of. Of getting really excited, being really devoted, and then little by little, kind of losing my steam.
And then it's a day, and then it's another day, and then it's a week. And then I would, like, go back to it. But now I don't really have the motivation, so I'm not having the feelings. And so, you know, and then it's like a month, and I'm like, I really should read my Bible.
But now there's guilt and shame, and the enemy has just been piling on like, you're such a bad Christian. And so it was this almost cycle that I created of trying really hard. And it was evident in many areas of my life, not just my devotions, but it was this cycle of trying really hard, recognizing that I'm human and not capable of doing the thing that I'm supposed to do, and then just falling off the wagon and choosing to lay there for as long as I could until I, you know, because I'm still serving and I'm still ministering and I'm still pouring out. And now my cup had been full, and now it is empty, and I'm still trying to give. And then you just come crawling back, you know, with this overwhelming condemnation. But when I started to learn that actually God doesn't really care about my intense devotion, you know, he mostly cares. He more cares about my heart.
My heart was always, I wanna love you. I wanna serve you. I want to be who you made me to be.
But my actions weren't lining up because I didn't know how to be that person. But when I received his grace, when I recognized, oh, oh, I can go two or three days, and then I can actually just pick up where I left off, God's not gonna be mad at me. He's actually excited that I'm back in this place. And in the meantime, in those days when I couldn't get out of bed in time or I fell into bed at the end of the day, and finally realized I hadn't talked to the Lord. I could doze off in his arms and he was actually happy to meet me there.
It was so beautiful. And it has released such life into my intimacy with him. Because now it feels like something I can do from love instead of from, I guess I should get up now. And now I have to do this. No, it's something that I'm like, oh, I can't wait to meet with God because he has such good things for me. And it doesn't have to look the way that I think it needs to look. It can just be spirit led, like you said.
And so, yeah, the grace piece is huge. It's okay if you don't do it perfectly. It's okay if you forget a day or whatever. Just pick up where you left off and keep going. Because he's still there waiting. He loves you to meet with you no matter how long it's been.
[00:22:24] Speaker B: And I love how you reframed the narrative around your time with the Lord. That's helped me so much too, because we say, oh, I have to do my devotions. I have to read my Bible. Yeah, I have to get in my prayer time. Whatever I have, I have to do this.
[00:22:38] Speaker A: It's a chore.
[00:22:39] Speaker B: It's a chore that we have to do. It's something that you have to check off your list. It's like taking the garbage out or washing the dishes or whatever. It is like that thing that you don't really want to do, but you have to do.
If we can reframe the narrative to I get to meet with the Lord today. He's waiting. He can't wait. I can't wait to meet with the Lord. I can't wait to read my Bible.
And actually right now I just sense the Lord bringing you into a season, a new season of being in love with the Bible, to read it and to just fill you with life. We actually had a pastor that prayed this over us a couple years ago, and it really changed my life. So I just impart to you a new season, loving the Bible, of just encountering the Holy Spirit as you read it, that God's going to show up in new and just really amazing ways as you read the Bible, as you spend time with him, that he's getting rid of that chore mentality. He's getting rid of the checklist, and he's releasing you into just relationship with him, spending time with him and enjoying each other.
[00:23:42] Speaker A: So how do you put this into practice? We want to give you Some simple and practical action steps, because that's what we do. And the first one is have a plan. Just have a plan to meet with Him. Intentionality is huge. It's so important.
You can say you want to meet with God, but if you don't have a plan for meeting with him, then do you really want to meet with Him? I think that's probably a good question for you to ask yourself. So what's your plan?
[00:24:05] Speaker B: So you can read your Bible, you can spend time in worship, you can just put on some soaking music and be in his presence. You know, you can pray, you can laugh with Jesus, you can watch funny cat videos on YouTube with him. Whatever it is that you want to do together, the goal is connection. Heart to heart connection. You can really do anything with Him. Anything that really brings you joy can be a connection. Time with the Lord.
[00:24:32] Speaker A: Just make sure that you have time set aside for that. Intentional connection. Yes, I think that's really the key here. The next thing is to recognize that it's not a transactional experience.
You want to talk about that?
[00:24:43] Speaker B: Oh, sure. Well, so I often, through most of my life, came to God because I needed something or I wanted something. So I'm going to read my Bible, I'm going to pray because I need something from God. It's like, okay, we go to the store, I give you money, you give me food or whatever it is. There's like this trade off of, of I'm going to receive because I'm giving you something. And so that's kind of. That's a religious view. Religion as the idea of we're trying to earn God, earn God's favor.
It's effort. It's my performance. It's not based on just my relationship with him. It's based on what I do. And so we want to break that off. We need to be obedient. We need to follow his guidelines that he's put in scripture for us. We're going to do those things.
But a lot of it comes down to our heart posture. Am I doing it out of duty and obligation, or am I doing it out of love?
God is love.
He loves you so, so much. And so just searching your heart, asking God, is it why am I doing this? Am I doing it because I want to get something from you? Or is it just to connect with you because you're a wonderful father and you love me so much? And I think that's where we start to get that depth of the relationship with the Lord that we so desperately need and desire. So all of us, deep down, really, really need to connect with the Lord. I just. I just remember kind of the doors opening, like, my mind. I'm like, oh, my gosh, there's so much available to me. And when you get past that, I'm just doing this out of. I have to check a checklist because I need to earn God's favor. No, I get to meet with God. He wants to speak to me, and we can just hang out and have fun together. And that can be my devotion time. That's amazing. There's. There's freedom in that. It's powerful.
[00:26:32] Speaker A: Yeah, And I love that picture of. It's not the duty, it's the love. There's, like. It's totally different. And, you know, we've talked a lot about doing life with Jesus, and that just makes me think of the disciples, and they just did life with him. He didn't expect them to do a bunch of religious acts or religious duty to be part of his posse. You know, he was like, come hang out with me. Let's do life together.
And, yeah, he said, if you love me, you'll follow my commands. But the love came first. The love always comes first. The action flows from the love. And so sitting with Jesus and just saying, God, show me your love.
Your time with God can seriously just be that God. I'm going to sit here and I'm going to bask in your love. Show me your love. Because that love that he has for you breaks off that religious spirit. You can't do things out of duty when you. You're overflowing with love. You do them out of love, and he wants to do that in you. And like I said, just pick up where you left off. You don't have to beat yourself up. You don't have to live in condemnation, and you don't have to come crawling back. You can apologize if you need to, if that makes your heart feel better. God, I'm sorry that I haven't had time in the last week, but I'm here now, and I really want to meet with you. But it doesn't have to be this whole thing of, like, I cried enough, I begged enough, I wallowed enough. And now I've earned my way back into, you know, crawling back into his presence. No, he wants you to come boldly. He wants you to come. Come in like a son or a daughter. You are his child, and you have free access to his presence and to his ear and to his love, no matter what. So just pick up where you left Off. You don't have to make a big ceremony about it. He wants to meet with you no matter how long it's been.
[00:28:20] Speaker B: And it's best just to start from a place of receiving God's love and his acceptance. There's no condemnation, there's no judgment.
Just come and receive.
It's no more complicated than that. This is a theme in my life right now. We just over complicate things sometimes. For too long we've been making it complicated. He just wants to meet with you. So just imagine yourself. I love to use my imagination.
I'm perfectly connected to Him. I'm seated with Christ in the heavenly realms.
I couldn't be any closer to God than I am right now because His Holy Spirit lives inside of me. He lives inside of you?
It wasn't good enough that he could just be around you. He had to come live inside of you. He sent His Holy Spirit and there's really nothing you can do to break that connection.
Sometimes we feel like we're disconnected from God because I haven't talked to Him. Just go. Actually, Holy Spirit, you're inside of me. I'm perfectly connected with you today. And that connection can only get stronger and stronger. The more time I spend with you, the more that that I become aware of that connection, the stronger that it gets. And so we just release grace over you for your devotional time, for your time with the Lord, to look different, to be fun, to be exciting, to receive everything that you need from God on a daily basis. To, like I said, be in a new season of being in love with the Bible, with God's word.
Hearing his voice more clearly than ever before. He can't wait to pour out his presence on you as you eagerly, excitedly come into his presence and connect with Him.
[00:30:03] Speaker A: Amen. So here's your action steps. Have a plan to meet with God. Recognize that it's not a transactional experience. You can just come and develop that relationship because he wants to give, give to you freely. Pick up where you left off if you feel like it's been too long.
No condemnation. There is so much grace for you. And always start from a place of receiving God's love and his acceptance and his favor over you. He has good stuff for you and he loves you so, so much. God bless you. Have a great week.
Hey, friend. We hope you enjoyed today's episode. If so, would you take 30 seconds to share this podcast with someone who may need encouragement or practical tools for fighting their battle?
[00:30:50] Speaker B: Then rate and review this podcast. Help us spread the message of transformation far and wide.
[00:30:56] Speaker A: All right, time to walk back into the noise with peace, purpose, and maybe a tiny bit of guessing.
[00:31:01] Speaker B: We'll meet you back next Thursday for another episode.
[00:31:04] Speaker A: Bye, Sa.
