ABOUT THE DAILY DISCIPLESHIP JOURNAL:

The Daily Discipleship Journal is a tool to help believers journal their thoughts and impressions of Scripture during their devotional times with the Lord. The Daily Discipleship Journal takes readers through the Bible in a year and allows them room to note those promises and insights from Scripture as well as prayer requests and answers to prayer. Because it encompasses most of the spiritual disciplines Christians should observe, such as scripture memorization, giving, fasting, ministry as well as prayer and daily Bible reading, some have called it a "Spiritual Day Planner" helping them keep on track in their devotional times.

Derrell Chastain, pastor of Calvary Chapel of Camp Verde, Arizona has commented, "Through The Daily Discipleship Journal, I have experienced what true devotional time is to be! Just in the few months since I started it, the Lord has spoken to me through His Word in ways that I could not have imagined. One of the greatest assets is the day by day reading through the Scriptures that we all need."

ABOUT HAVING A DAILY QUIET TIME:

Heart Attitude: Check Your Motivation. Each day, as we set aside our special time of fellowship with Jesus, we should prepare our hearts to receive from Him. Every day, God has something new to say to us--perhaps a word of correction, instruction, an affirmation of His love for us or some type of application He intends us to carry out.

What is your motivation? It is tragic when believers have a devotional time out of a sense of obligation. Equally disheartening is when Bible reading is merely a routine. Often, Christians have the mentality that if we don't have our devotional time each day, God is not going to bless us and He will make our day miserable. These erroneous attitudes are common to the average believer.

It is important that we continually check our heart motivation in order to keep our relationship with Jesus fresh and vibrant. If we are feeling rushed or inconvenienced because we must perform this duty, we must repent of such attitudes. He wants your relationship with Him to be motivated from a heart of love and desire, never forced or out of obligation. God wants you to come before Him with excitement and eager expectation. The writer of the book of Hebrews admonishes, "Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart" (Hebrews 10:21).

Now, instead of closing your Bible and thinking you must come back when you have a better attitude, you can easily prepare your heart right then and there. Confess that feeling of duty or obligation and ask Him to give you a desire to seek His face and put all other distractions out of your mind. Schedule the best part of your day with Jesus when you will not be stressed as you consider all of your deadlines and plans. Never allow your Bible reading time to become a drudgery.

Jon Courson writes about the excitement of learning God's Word saying, "The study of Scripture is a life-long discipline and an eternal delight. Its pleasurable. Its fascinating. Its stimulating." Go before Him because you are eager to, knowing that He wants to reveal some spiritual truth to you to take with you throughout your day.