John 14:12

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

About a week ago I decided I needed to get back into the routine of spending more time with God. But over the past few days, I have to admit that my interest in reading his word and spending time with Him had waned.

As I noticed my passion dwindling, I was a little concerned. I rebuked the devil. I did all I could, to revive myself and my hunger. I also knew from past experiences in my journey there would be consequences for this, but I kind of didn’t care. I had a bad attitude, and I knew it. I trusted Jesus to carry me through. I asked for His protection and help. I recognized this place I was in, I had been here before, spiritually.

I want to take a moment to explain what I mean by the consequences of not hanging out with Jesus, in His word, in prayer, meditating on His truths… He is the way, the truth and the life, after all.

Here are what those consequences look like to me…

I feel disconnected.

I am easily distracted and have difficulty concentrating.

I am restless.

I feel lost.

My defences go down.

The lies of the enemy begin to pour in to my mind and heart… I begin to believe that what I’m doing doesn’t matter, it doesn’t count, I am off track in my purpose, and my efforts are a pointless waste of time. I am bombarded with these thoughts and I begin to believe them.

This is a very dangerous place to be because satan is an opportunist. When I moved away from the truth, it opened an opportunity for him to move in with his lies.

I want to be clear on one thing… these are natural consequences of moving away from God.

God is not punishing me for not spending time with him. I believe his intentions towards me are good, and He would like me to live with a peace-filled mind and heart. But He will never force me. It is up to me to choose to remain committed to my own spiritual health and to remain devoted to Jesus.

It is like a teenager deciding to skip class. The teacher would not punish him on the next test, but after he has missed classes and not done his assignments, it is a natural consequence that he will not do as well as he could have. He just won’t be prepared.

And so it is with me when I don’t take the time to fill myself with Jesus. When I allow myself to become spiritually depleted, I will not be prepared for what I need to face. Just like the teen who skips class has no idea how great his potential is… I am convinced that none of us has any idea of how great our potential is in the Kingdom of God, if we are willing to live fully surrendered to Him.

Let us purpose to live lives fully surrendered to Jesus.

God is limitless in what He can do in and through those who are fully surrendered to Him.

What specific things could you do to reconnect with God today?

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Devotional submitted by Sylvia Kirkey