Devotional Guide Book

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Introduction There is so much more to Sunday School. What does that mean? It means that in a Sunday School class we do more than just sit and listen. When Luke is describing a 12- year-old Jesus in chapter 2 verse 46, he says that Jesus was both hearing and asking questions. Now I want you to think about that, why would an all-knowing God need to ask men questions? Maybe, he was teaching us by his actions rather than his words. When the teacher of teachers is listening to what you have to say and then asking questions there is most defiantly a reason. For this, we can decern that he is understanding, engaged, thoughtful, and respectful among everything else. So again, I would like to thank everyone for the wonderful Sunday school class. The thoughtful engagement from everyone is not just a blessing for me, but a blessing that we can all share. Let us continue to grow with the Lord and each other. This booklet is for you! You are not going to turn it in, you will never have to share it, you don’t even need to complete it. But you might want to. I hope that you enjoy this, and I can’t wait to see where this new chapter of Sunday School takes us. This study/workbook is a way for us to look further into what devotions are. My hope is by the end of this study we will feel comfortable in finding good devotions and maybe even be able to write our own. If we can share our devotions, think about how we can use this tool to minister unto others. I hope you enjoy this study as much as I am going to. So, let’s begin!



Table of Contents What is a Devotion..................................................................................5 KJV definition of Devotion: ............................................................6 Devotion Topics .....................................................................................8 Genesis 1: 4-5 ..................................................................................8 The Scripture........................................................................................10 2 Timothy 2: 15..............................................................................10 The Illustration......................................................................................12 Mathew 13: 10-13 ..........................................................................12 The Biblical Takeaway..........................................................................14 James 3: 17-18 ...............................................................................14 Are you ready? .....................................................................................16 1 Peter 4: 10-11..............................................................................16



What is a Devotion So, what is a devotion or devotional? That’s easy, a Devotional is something you read from a devotional while having devotional… If that confused you, good, you are not alone I am confused writing it. Let’s start with something a little bit easier. What a devotional is not. • A devotional is NOT a sermon. • A devotional is NOT biblical commentary. • A devotional is NOT a theological textbook. We can gather from this that a devotional is not designed to enhance our minds, but rather to fill our hearts. While understanding God’s work and rightly dividing the word is very important and we must all “study to shew thyself approved.” Knowledge is not everything. Knowledge must mature into virtue, or it will spoil into vanity. The biblical teachings that we know and do not practice are wasted. Devotional readings should never be a substitute for His word, they can help us to spend time with him, and as my wife would say, “be all up in your feels.” Devotions tug at our heartstrings, and it is known that a lesson learned with emotions is better remembered and more often shared. Think about your testimony. Now that we know a devotion is not about expanding our minds but more about filling our hearts let’s try to unravel what a devotion truly is. Maybe if I word it a bit differently it will make more sense. What if I tell you? I’m reading a devotional from this devotional book during my devotional time

The first thing I want to emphasize is devotional time. But to do that we must first understand the root of the word devotional. KJV DEFINITION OF DEVOTION: A solemn attention to the Supreme Being in worship; a yielding of the heart and affections to God, with reverence, faith and piety, in religious duties, particularly in prayer and meditation; devoutness. We must set aside time for God; dare I say it we must devote time to Him. What we do during that time can be many things as long as our solemn attention and heart are with Him. This can be the time you spend reading your bible, it can be some time in prayer, your time in personal worship or it can be a devotional reading. Let’s dive a little deeper into devotional readings. We know what devotional time is, and we know how a devotional can help us. But what is a devotional reading? To sum it up a devotional reading is a short, inspiring illustration with a biblical takeaway. Break it Down Short 100-600 words 3 to 15 Minutes Scripture Format Biblical Takeaway 3-part structure Illustration

Think about someone coming to you on the street with a story from their lives about God. Would you stop and listen? Now, understand that you can go out and choose what kind of stories you would like to hear whether they are written for a man, a woman, children, families, couples, or the list goes on. Devotional books and apps are everywhere, and they can tug on your heartstrings and be just for you. Let’s take some time to share a few devotionals, if you would like you can break it down using the table below. But keep in mind this is time spent with God, this is devotional time! What scripture was used? Part of a verse, a whole verse, or a couple verses Summary of what the writer illustrating. An example of what the scripture looks like in real life. What did you take away? What is the short life application?

Devotion Topics In Genesis we see God giving names to Day, Night, Heaven, Earth, Seas, and more. He then charged Adam to give names to all the animals. When something begins anew it must have a name, something to be called. This is how a devotional should be written with a name. The name of the devotion does not have to come first as we see in Genesis God created first and then He named. Maybe the scripture would better explain. GENESIS 1: 4-5 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. We see that God was already working with light before he called it Day and the same goes with darkness. If you continue to read through Genesis 1 you will see this for everything God did in the six days, he created. In the simplest terms, God has a topic, he works and finishes that topic, then he gives a name to everything that was made from that topic. This means that before we can even write a devotion, we should have a topic in mind. But which one? Well, here are just a few that we could choose from. Acceptance Goodness Love Thanksgiving Blessings Grace Ministry Time Church Healing Purpose Trials Comfort Help Rejoicing Unity Discipleship Hope Resurrection Victory Encouragement Jesus Salvation Worry Faith Knowledge Selflessness Worship Forgiveness Leadership Service Worthy

Let’s take some time to share a few devotionals and discern from what topic it was written. If you would like you can break it down using the table below. But keep in mind this is time spent with God, this is devotional time! Topic and Title of the Devotion and Author What scripture was used? Part of a verse, a whole verse, or a couple verses Summary of what the writer illustrating. An example of what the scripture looks like in real life. What did you take away? What is the short life application?

The Scripture While the topic of your Devotional will help you get started, scripture will help you as well. We all have a verse that means something to us, take a second and think about your verse. Do you, have it? Good, now can you tell me why that verse is important to you? I bet that most of you have a story or feeling that goes along with that verse. I have a secret to tell you, that is the makings of a devotional. What’s your Verse? It is ok if you can not think of any …? one verse, I have that problem too. That’s when we can use the tool of a topic to narrow down what verse we would like to choose. Be careful when choosing a topic and then searching for a verse that would complement it. It is our job as Christians to rightly divide the word, Paul wrote to Timothy from prison heading this advice. 2 TIMOTHY 2: 15 15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. It helps to have multiple verses and topics ready to go so that when the Holy Spirit starts to stir, you have the foundation of your devotion ready to go.

Let’s play a little guessing game as a class, shall we? Rather let’s try to decern a few of these scriptures into a topic. Then let’s take a few topics and find a scripture. Hint: use the table in the topic section of the book, I did Topic Scripture 2 Corinthians 5-7 Blessings (For we walk by faith, not by sight) Romans 5-8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Mathew 28-19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the son, and of the Holy Ghost Forgiveness Hope Service

The Illustration The illustration as we keep calling it needs to be a picture in words. This picture should be detailed enough for your reader to see the picture you are trying to paint. It also needs to follow a basic three- part structure to be a well-written piece. Let’s look at this three-part structure. S Simple It makes one point A Authentic It is truthful M Memorable It makes unforgettable connections By using this three-part structure, you can ensure that the readers will enjoy and understand a devotional. You may still be asking why. Why are we even writing a short, simple, authentic, memorable story that is based on scripture? That is a great question, one that a real teacher has already answered. Remember, the disciples asked Jesus why he was telling short stories. Let’s take a look. MATHEW 13: 10-13 10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

Simply put Jesus knew that the people would not understand. He had to take scripture and give it to his specific audience in a way that they would understand. We are going to take this lesson straight out of Jesus’ playbook. When writing a devotion, we must think of who we want to read it, or better yet who are we writing it for. Are we writing it for our children, or maybe we are writing it for our fishing buddies, or are women writing it for their girlfriends? This is an important way that we are going to connect with the reader. Let’s take this class as our audience I can write a devotion that is a more mature theme that has some adult wisdom in it, and everyone here would be able to relate on some level. I want you to choose an audience with whom you would feel comfortable sharing your verse and writing too. Who are you writing to? By now you have thought of a story from your life that has complimented your verse. So, let’s put pen to paper and write the outline of our story, or if you are ready the whole thing. Opening: Write a sentence that starts captures the reader’s interest. Body: Write a sentence that summarizes your story. Body: Write a sentence on how you felt. Close: Write a sentence about what you learned.

The Biblical Takeaway The last portion of a devotional reading, and it can be said, it’s the whole reason the devotion is being written, is the biblical takeaway. This is the portion of the devotional where our heartstrings are tugged on, and we finally see how everything from the topic and scripture to the illustration come together to make a point. There are many ways to do this, for one we can make the point (biblical takeaway) somewhere in our story, usually at the end. We can tell the story and then add a prayer that brings it all together, a lot of devotionals use this method. We could ask a question directed at the reader to help them reflect on the point. You could even turn it into a worksheet for the reader to complete… Kinda like this whole workbook has been… WAIT! Did I actually create a devotional workbook about knowing and writing devotionals while having devotion? Let’s all share a few examples of these different types of biblical takeaways. I’ll go first with this great devotional I have found on Wisdom from Above. Let’s break it down! Scripture JAMES 3: 17-18 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. 18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

Illustration The philosophy of our physicality is me-centered. However, the wisdom God offers is others-centered, and he promises to take care of us. We do not need to spend so much time worrying about ourselves when we have the king of the universe promising to watch over us. Take hold of this freedom, act wisely, and put others first. Biblical takeaway Prayer: Lord, make me wise. Help me put aside my contradictory goals and look outward. Instead of always trying to meet my own needs, teach me to consider others first and look for opportunities to meet their needs. I want to be peaceful, gentle, merciful, and sincere. Question: Living peacefully does not mean being ingenuine or keeping silent. Are you willing to consider others and see things from their perspective? We see the author use a great technique in this devotional titled “Wisdom from Above.” They give us advice instead of a story which is fine, this can be done in a devotional. But then from that advice, they write a small prayer to let us know really what they want. They are asking God to make us wise, peaceful, gentle, merciful, sincere, and to consider others first. This is great advice and a wonderful thing to ask the Lord to help us with. The question is also great, but what about this question? Do you think your devotional will give great advice? Maybe we can consider others in what we write and pray this prayer before we even begin.

Are you ready? No long-drawn-out ramblings from me, let’s here what you got. I would like to give a little encouragement, well not me. Peter says it all and far greater than I can. 1 PETER 4: 10-11 10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. It is here that Peter reminds us that God has given us all a gift, and that gift is unique to just you. This means that a devotional written by you is unique and a gift from God. I don’t know about all of you but I get cold chills knowing that I am lucky enough to hear a gift from God. So, please share with us, with your neighbor, with your friends, and with your work associates. Share your devotionals so that you may spread the word of God and share the gifts that he has blessed you with.