Spiritual Vitamins

A Psalms a Day keeps the Devil Away!

I am not sure where I heard that, but I do think it has a lot of truth.  The Devil can be defeated at the sound of Jesus' name, and hiding God's words in our hearts helps us to withstand the temptation to stress, to overreact, to loose our temper and a plethora of other sins that can occur.  My Junior High Sunday school teacher always told us girls to read a Psalms everyday if nothing else.  I have tried to always maintain that time with God by reading His Word daily.  Without it I can't function.

We need air to breath, water to drink, food to eat, clothing to wear and shelter to live.  For a human, that is what it takes to survive physically.  But spiritually, we have to have fellowship with our heavenly Father.  Not just every now and then.  We don't drink water just every few days; we have to consume water everyday.  Just the same, we have to consume His Word everyday in order to grow, learn, and become more like Jesus.

My girls love to take their vitamins.  And quite frankly, dad and I like them too.  They are tasty! When I was pregnant, the prenatal vitamins made me sick.  My doctor let me take two of the tasty vitamins instead for the first few weeks.  I looked forward to that treat everyday.   I must have the same mind set with regards to my time with God.  I have to be excited and look forward to spending time with Him.  It is a treat to be able to learn more from His Word and guidance.

I can tell when I need some water to drink.  My mouth gets dry.  Sometimes I get a headache if I haven't had enough water.  I just cannot think clearly.

I can tell when I need to read my Bible.  My spirit gets dry.  I get flustered easily when I haven't devoted enough time to God.  I just cannot think clearly.

When I was a teen, my time reading a short devotion was always before bed.  I remember coming home one night exhausted from waiting tables.  I laid down, but couldn't go to sleep.  I remembered I had not opened my Bible that day.  I read a Psalms and prayed, and slept like a baby.  It calmed my heart, and it still always does!

I kept that nightly reading until my first daughter was born.  Suddenly, I was so exhausted I would collapse into bed and not be able to lift my head, much less my Bible.  A few weeks in, I realized my years of nightly reading would have to be revamped.  Through the years of being a mom, I have come to learn that you grab a minute with God any time you can catch it.  It can't always be scheduled; it can't always happen the same time and place, but for this mom it has to happen every day.

I have two daily devotion booklets that I choose from that include some Bible reading.  I  read those first thing in the morning.  It only takes a few minutes, and it is so worth the few minutes!  Later in the day I read the P31 Devo from my email.  The evening may include a book, like now the Stressed-Less study, and more time from the Bible.  The evening reading is not a daily occurrence, but that first thing in the morning has to happen or I will be a frazzled, stress-out mess before we walk out the door!

I am thankful God can meet with me anytime.  I am grateful I never need an appointment.  I can come to Him anytime and anyplace and He is there and ready to hear me.

Just like food is energy for my body, the Bible is energy for my soul.  It is a necessity.  Without it, I am nothing just like without God I am nothing!



Today's Verses

1 John 2:5-6

"But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked."