Everyday in  my office I read & study God's asking God for ways to teach His Word in a relevant way that will impact people's lives.  I was in church for so many years and listened to so may sermons and forgot 99% of them before walking to the door.  My prayer is that God continually allows the scriptures to rock my world so that I can teach what He is teaching me.  Here is my question, should my sermon prep time be considered my personal devotional time?  Answer, absolutely not.

Preparing to teach God's word is what I've been called to do.  My personal walk with Jesus, which includes my devotional time, is what I long to do.  The past few years I've read the entire Bible through out the year with the chronological Bible & the Bible in a year.  But, this year I'm doing something I've never done.  My plans are to make my way through the book of Matthew verse by verse.  I want to know as much about Jesus as possible.  I'm asking God to fill my heart with His Word in a way like never before.  I want to teach people how to love Jesus and love people like Jesus.  My opinion, the best way to do this is to know Jesus up close and personal myself.  So, pray that God speaks to me in a powerful way.

That is my plan for the year  What are yours?  Just opening the Bible and picking a page won't work.  You've got to plan a time and place.  Don't give Jesus your left overs a couple of times a week.  As far as how to read, there are a number of Bibles that give you the daily readings to read entire Bible in a year.  Doesn't matter what method, what matters is that your spending time with Jesus!

I'll write what God is teaching me through the book of Matthew every now and then.  But I feel certain you;ll hear some of it on Sunday mornings.