one step at a time

Devotionals.
You know. Those short, inspiring tidbits we read on a daily basis that encourage us.

I'm sure I'm not the first person in the world to sometimes shrug off the thought of reading a daily devotional, solely on the reason of that they get repetitive and all of them can sometimes be vague. I sometimes get in that "Well, this doesn't apply to me, let's move on" mindset. WRONG. You can probably see that I've never been a fan of devotionals. That is, until the past year.
I justified my "disliking" of devotionals with the excuse of that I never found ones that were for me. No. The problem was that I wasn't reading them with the intent of communicating with the Lord, and actually, soaking in the real message in them. I wasn't seeking God during my time with Him, during them. I was doing them to fulfill an obligation. Rule number one of quiet time- Don't feel obligated to spend time with God. Don't feel guilty. DO IT BECAUSE YOU ARE IN LOVE WITH HIM. Seek Him in everything. I've always struggled with quiet time... And in that "quiet" time, I've learned to truly be quiet with Him. To listen. To be still and know, that He is God. It's only taken me years... I'm sure I'm the most distracted person on this earth.

In July 2007, the month my Gramps passed away, I was given a devotional written by Oswald Chambers, by my youth minister and his wife. I didn't know at the time, but that simple, little book would be a great impact on my life in the following years. The ways God has spoken through that paragraph each day are astounding. It's not a vague devotional. It hits hard, and I am beyond thankful for the time that I read it everyday, in my walk with Christ.

I had to share today's, because it meant so much. I've read it about a thousand times throughout the whole day. It's like it was written just for Taylor Hamm. The timing...

3/6- Taking the Next Step
"In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind." 2 Corinthians 6:4

"When you have no vision from God, no enthusiasm left in your life, and no one watching and encouraging you, it requires the grace of Almighty God to take the next step in your devotion to Him, in the reading and studying of His Word, in your family life, or in your duty to Him. It takes much more of the grace of God, and a much greater awareness of drawing upon Him, to take that next step, than it does to preach the gospel.
Every Christian must experience the essence of the incarnation by bringing the next step down into flesh-and-blood reality and by working it out with his hands. We lose interest and give up when we have no vision, no encouragement, and no improvement, but only experience our everyday life with its trivial tasks. The thing that really testifies for God and for the people of God in the long run is steady perseverance, even when the work cannot be seen by others. And the only way to live an undefeated life is to live looking to God. Ask God to keep the eyes of your spirit open to the risen Christ, and it will be impossible for drudgery to discourage you. Never allow yourself to think that some tasks are beneath your dignity or too insignificant for you to do, and remind yourself of the example of Christ in John 13:1-7."