About this site

Have you ever read anything interesting for devotion that really made you think? Why not let others share in the enlightment? This site allows you to keep a devotional journal and tell others what it said to you. Whenever you have devotion, just take a few minutes afterwards to write down what you read and what you think about it.

Things get more interesting as you add comments to other people's entries. Agree with what they said? Did the passage they read say something else to you? Let them know by adding a comment to their entry.

Journal entries are also linked in another way— when looking at someone else's entry or adding your own entry, you have the option to see who else has been studying the same book or topic. You might find out that what you are studying is covered in a different book as well.

If you don't feel like making your entries visible to the whole world, that's ok. You can make your entries private. This is still useful if you want to have a personal log that is easy to access and easy to search through later.

Sound interesting? Sign up, take the tour or take a look at the community page.

Why keep a devotional journal?

Having a daily devotion is an extremely important part of the Christian life and one which should not be neglected or pushed to the side. Outside of the usual church service and social events, how well do you know God on a personal level? Do you spend quality time with Him every day?

Time spent with God during devotion is the foundation of the Christian walk. It is how you get to know God personally and directly. It is how you build your foundation on rock, and not on sand. Spending quiet time with God in prayer and by reading His word is the last thing that should be sacrificed or compromised on. This is how you sit at the feet of Christ, how you renew your relationship with Him day by day, and how get to know Him as a personal Savior.

Keeping a devotional journal is one of the best ways to give more meaning to the quiet time you spend with God. It helps you to preserve the thoughts and impressions He makes on your mind. By writing it down instead of just mulling it over in your mind, you help to solidify and make concrete the lessons you have learned and the insights you have gained. A devotional journal helps you to dig deeper into your study because it forces you to articulate your thoughts clearly.

Later on down the road, when you are facing challenges or trials in your life, it helps to be able to look back at something like a journal that tangibly shows how God has been real in your life in the past. If you use your devotional journal to document different facts, ideas, and insights, you can easily search through and organize your entries on this site.

There are some entries that are personal in nature that you will want to keep private. This site allows you to do that. However, by sharing your insights and thoughts with others you can be a daily witness. You can share how God is teaching you and working with you to bring you closer to Him. God has made awesome promises to those who share their knowledge about Him.

Tips on keeping a journal

Here are some tips on effective journal keeping:

• When you read devotion, set aside enough time beforehand so that you can be relaxed and calm. It is hard to concentrate and listen to what God is saying when your mind is cluttered or distracted. Many people find that taking some quiet time in the morning before the busyness of the day's tasks come is the best time. Others feel that the best time is just before bed, when everything has died down. You need to find the best time that works for you. The most important thing is to allocate time beforehand, and to be free from noise and distractions.
• Make your devotion time regular. Pick a specific time, and do your best to keep it. It is ok to start out with just a couple of minutes per day. You can gradually increase the time spent later. It is critical, however, that you do it regularly.
• Prayer for guidance and understanding before, during, and after you read. Ask God to speak to you personally. After and during you devotion, medidate a few moments on what you read and how it applies to your life specifically.
• As you read, keep in mind the context of what you are reading. It is important to place everything in it's historical, cultural and scriptural context. Ask yourself who is writing, to whom are they writing, why are they writing, what are they saying, and how would the recipients understand it? Think critically about what you are reading, and be careful not to put in your own private interpretations of scripture.
• Apply what you read directly to your life. Think of stories in your past that are explained by what you read. Consider how the scripture changes the way you want to think, act, or speak. If you learn something that you did not previously know, spend some time meditating on that as well.
• After you are finished, take a few minutes to write down what your thoughts. Write down what you learned, any personal stories that apply, any insights you have gained, and any commitments you want to make. Be as clear and concrete as possible. You can also write prayers, wishes, conerns, praises, etc... The more you write, the more you solidify it in your mind.
• Finally, if you are reading a devotional book or blog, make sure you take time to connect the author's thoughts with the Bible verse he or she is quoting. Think of how they relate to each other, and then how they relate to you.