My all-time favorite devotional book
We discussed Bible reading plans earlier this week and it reminded me that I have never recommended my favorite devotional book. I'll admit that many of the modern devotional books I've seen look more like "fluff" than anything, however, Daily Light on the Daily Path
is anything but fluff. In fact, it is just straight Scripture divided into a theme for each morning and evening of every day in a year.For any of you mamas who are at a season in your life when brushing your teeth is an accomplishment (anyone else been there, done that?!) and the thought of reading a whole chapter of the Bible in a day might seem daunting, I highly recommend you check out Daily Light on the Daily Path.
After Kaitlynn was first born and I was trying to learn to juggle two littles I confided to my mom that my biggest struggle was finding quiet time to read God's Word. She encouraged me to just try to find five minutes each day to pray and read through the Daily Light verses. In the busy non-stop tiring days and sleepless nights a few months back, those five minutes were a real balm to my spirit.
I've now been able to go back to more extended Bible reading and prayer (well, at least normally I get in more than 5 minutes in a day!), but I still love to pull out the Daily Light any time I'm needing some extra encouragement throughout the day. This great devotional book isn't just for those who feel like they are barely surviving, I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to incorporate more Scripture into their lives on a daily basis. Set it on your nightstand and read it first thing in the morning and last thing before you go to bed. Or, put it by your table and read it aloud before breakfast and dinner. Or, do as I do sometimes and read it along with your morning Bible reading.
It's versatile, it's simple, and it's life-changing.
By the way, do you have a favorite devotional book? Tell us about it!
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posted by Crystal Paine at 5:02 PM
34 Comments:
Voices of the Faithful with Beth Moore and many other missionaries
Daily Devotional, daily encouragement based on Scripture written by 300 missionaries. Very inspirational and full of testimonies. They all have one thing in common- a deep, abiding love for Jesus Christ that compels them to share the Good News with a lost world- no matter what the sacrifice.
I just started reading through "Diligently Seeking God" by Gary Henry and like it a lot so far. Each entry is based on scripture and is food for thought on prioritizing one's life to put God first.
I love Spurgeon's Morning and Evening.
This year I am enjoying Joni Eareckson Tada's Pearls of Great Price. I have read her devotionals in the past and by far they are the best I have come across. This one seems to be just as wonderful.
I really like "The Prayer That Changes Everything" by Stormie Omartian. It has 30 short chapters focusing on the power of praising God, it also has a prayer written out, several Scripture references that go with the topic and questions to make it more of a Bible study.
It's very good to do 1 chapter/day and you can go through the book over and over. I highly recommend it!
I don't know if this really qualifies as a devotional book, but the Daily Bible Journal has transformed my Bible reading this past year. It does require a fairly substantial chunk of time as you are reading a few chapters each day and then journaling as well. But it is so very good in the way the readings are structured. I am recommending it to everyone this year:-D
I also love My Utmost for His Highest. I used that for years and years and never tired of it.
Agree Mod Girl, Morning and Evening is wonderful.
My favorite isn't really a devotional but works very nicely as one it Heaven Opened the letters of Mary Winslow. It was so inspiring! And the short letters were perfect for daily reading and encouragement.
I love The Edges of His Ways by Amy Carmichael. Short and beautifully written. Not to mention far superior to many modern "mommy devotionals".
My favorite is also Spurgeon's Morning and Evening. My mom's is Streams in the Desert (I believe that's the name of it).
Morning and Evening, but I have heard wonderful things about Streams in the Desert as well. Also, Surgeon's Chequebook of Faith.
That has been my favorite for years, too. Another one I find myself returning to often is My Utmost for His Highest.
Two other favorites:
Spurgeon's Morning and Evening,
and E.Elliot's Keep a Quiet Heart.
All of these have gone together well with the Daily Light readings in the past. I like to read Daily Light for Scripture, and then a daily selection from one of the others... when I'm in that season you were describing. They do come and go, don't they?
Crystal ~ I followed the link, and there are a couple different books with the same title ~ whish one is it?
thanks so much!!
Tracy
My Utmost For His Highest, Mornings and Evenings, and Edges of His Ways...these are my 3 favorites. Thanks for this recomendation...I'll have to find it!
A few weeks ago, I was visiting with an older lady at church (whom I greatly admire) and she said if she could go back and change anything about her younger motherhood years (she has 8 children) she would've spent as MUCH time as possible with the Lord in prayer and reading His Word. I was all ready to go and buy whatever book she mentioned, or use whatever home school curriculum she mentioned...When she said that it had a major impact on me. I took her words as a challenge but yet as encouragement as well!!
Thanks Crystal!!
Christy
Emilie Barnes has a wonderful one. I love it. Thanks for sharing. I am in a very busy season too learning too hugglw my third. I have bee so hard on myslef because I think I have to pray or read for a hour or it is n't enough. Well, I am trying to remind myself God knows my hear and desires and I can cindense my reading down and pray through out the whole day.
I love Daily Light! You can even get it online or in your RSS feed in the English Standard Version at http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/daily.light.
I love Daily Light too! But when I pick up my Bible for my quiet time, I usually reach for Oswald Chambers "My Utmost for His Highest". You can get either the updated English version (which surprisingly did not lose anything in the update) or the original version.
Also, they just used it to make a companion children's volume called "Jesus wants All of Me", which we also love!
Right now in my life, I usually just read the Bible for quiet time; I have enjoyed 31 Days of Praise several times through as well.
One of my very favorite when I has really little children was, "Diapers, Pacifiers, and other Holy Things." I don't remember the author, but it was an awesome devotional. I loved it because it took short 'stories' from her life as a Mom with her children and then she showed the 'parallel' to our relationship with God. It was so good because as I was taking care of my children and going through the 'mundane' chores and doing all the things that didn't seem to 'matter', God would bring those parallels to mind and it would create a great opportunity to meditate on the Lord or a verse or two and 'bridge' the gap and help me to see that EVERYTHING I did during the day could focus me on my relationship with Him. I'd HIGHLY recommend this devotional, especially for Moms with young children! :)
Debi
My favorite by far is Streams in the Desert. I first discovered it when I was about 15 on my mom's shelf. I think the one I have is an original copy and I have been devouring it ever since. It is totally highlighted and falling apart. I would love for them to make a bible with it included in it's pages. That would be my perfect Bible.
(You can also read it online, but it's just not the same to me :-)
My husband and I have enjoyed Dennis and Barbara Rainey's devotional books for couples.
I really like Morning & Evening by Charles Spurgeon and My Utmost for His Highest.
Valerie
I too, like Stormie Omartian books. I have both her 'Power of a praying Woman' and 'Power of a praying wife'. I also just got the 'Power of a praying parent' from the library but haven't started it yet. Nice short chapters I can read through while having my cup of coffee in the morning. I love how down to earth it is and the fact that she incorporates so much scripture into the prayers. Some of my biggest Ah ha! moments came when reading through those books.
I've always felt convicted by the thought that Mary got up early in the morning to go and wait on a *dead* person in a tomb... and I grumble or make excuses not to get up early and talk and spend time with the risen (and very much alive) Saviour.
I'm revamping my home binder at the moment. Because of this conviction, I'm planning on getting up a full 15 minutes before I normally would to pray and read the Word. I'll also use this time to diligently pray for my husband before he starts his day. I have quite a few "Everyday with Jesus" devotionals that I would like to work through, though I have seen one that is about going deeper with the Lord and seeking His heart more devotedly, which is a big yearning of mine.
Daily Light is a long-time favourite of mine, I used it continually for several years prior to my marriage.I actually like to read it out loud.I dusted it off again at the start of January this year. It's truly food for the soul.
I've also started using "In Green Pastures" by JR Miller. My husband found it in a Salvation Army op-shop (thrift store). I've been putting some of Miller's quotes on my blog lately. His stuff seems really hard to get in Australia lately through the Christian bookshops.
Claire
My Utmost For His Highest. I've read it so many times through the years and each year I find it refreshing and new.
My friend has started a blog www.growingingodliness.blogspot.com
and I have been using her posts sometimes in my quiet time. I have also re-started to look at Charles Stanley's Early Light Devotionals. I like both of these for the same reason you like Daily Light. No fluff. Just straight out Bible teaching. What an amazing way to start the day.
A less known devotional by Spurgeon is DAILY TREASURY FROM THE PSALMS - a thought-provoking, no fluff devotional covering the Psalms. His entries are only 1-page each, so you get a nice do-able little chunk each morning to chew on.
Another pretty hefty, no-fluff devotional is called THOUGHTS FOR SUNDAYS by Handley C.G. Moule. It was originally designed to be read on Sundays to prepare oneself for the Lord's day, but it can be read throughout the week as well.
Just a thought for those of us who have little ones and are struggling with reading through the Bible in a year (I'm included here!)- what about reading through the book of John (or whatever other book of the Bible you'd like) once or twice a year, just a few verses a day? That way we'd be constantly in the Word.
The Daily Light on the Daily Path morning & evening meditations devotional is in an online format at The Reformed Reader for those interested.
JOYce :-)
I'm a little late in chiming in on here, but I'd like to share my favorite devotional book. Morning & Evening Devotions by Charles Spurgeon. It has been such a blessing and aid to growth in my own spiritual life, that I am eager to recommend it to everybody! It has a very easy to read format, and only takes a few minutes. Do check it out sometime! :)
I usually read Scripture in the morning and something from a devotional book in the evenings before bed. Sometimes I read a Psalm before bed or some passage I had been thinking about earlier in the day.
My favorites are: Valley of Vision by the Puritans (thanks to you all for my leather bound edition!)
I also enjoy the little devotional booklets that ICR mails out every few months. They are called Days of Praise and are written by several godly men, mostly scientists.
I have a copy of Streams in the Desert that a friend gave me. I need to pull that one off the shelf.
My mother e-mails out short devotional thoughts based on Scripture nearly every morning to all of her children. Before I leave for work in the mornings I check my e-mail and read her thoughts for the day. They are a blessing too!
Thanks for sharing your favorite devotional with us and encouraging us to share our own.
Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon is EXCELLENT!
Blessings,
Vanessa
A Godward Life by John Piper.
He is one of my favorite authors and this book has wonderful, Scripture filled devotions.
i enjoy Daily Light; the version by Anne Graham Lotz and Bagster. It is really great. it is the same thing pretty much as the one you are reading...but Anne has added a few topical selections of Scripture in the back, like Depression, Friends, family, etc.
Another one i really enjoy right now is Mrs. Cowman's Springs in the Valley. An excellent compilation of writings.
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