But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. Deuteronomy 4:29.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
Without devotion your life is empty motion, lip service with no heart engagement.
Then the LORD said, “Because this people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote.” Isaiah 29:13.
Devotion is a yearning towards Me that can only be filled by being in My presence constantly. It is when reading My Word, praying, and just being alive becomes a delightful joy because of who you are with and where you are headed forever. You begin to understand the Song of Songs: “I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine.” Song of Songs 6:3. Your life becomes a song. I am your strength and song.
I have set the LORD continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will dwell securely. Psalm 16:8-9.
Devotion comes from knowing who I AM, not just a surface knowledge. And that was the difference between the way the vast majority of those I redeemed out of the slavery of Egypt treated Me and the way Moses treated Me. Moses loved being with Me and hearing My Words, when he was with Me, his face became radiant and reflected My glory from his devotion to Me. He knew Me because he drew close and wanted to know Me. He understood that I was gracious and merciful and full of lovingkindness. He longed to see My glory and I defined that as My goodness. I had invited the others to hear My voice and be My royal priesthood so that all would know Me from the least to the greatest but they did not pursue that invitation and had no desire to do so, hence they turned easily to idols. They never deepened their relationship with Me even though I dwelt in their midst in the Holy of holies and led them by the presence of My glory in the cloud that hovered over the Ark of the Covenant. I journeyed with them to the abundant land I had promised them.
To do My Will was not their delight, in fact, even though My Will was to lead them in to give them the Promised Land, they would not be led and would not go. They did not seek My face. They had no devotion towards Me and consequently were not faithful.
I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you. Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check, otherwise they will not come near to you. Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but he who trusts in the LORD, lovingkindness shall surround him. Psalm 32:8-10.
Devotion delights in reverence (holy awe, holy fear) for Me. It is when serving Me is not a duty but your delight. When Jesus was baptized at the Jordan by John, My Spirit came upon Him and remained.
Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD. Isaiah 11:1-3.
Jesus was devoted to Me. He knew Me.
“O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:25-26.
Devotion, knowing Me and hearing My voice, turns life into joy.
At that very time Jesus rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” Luke 10:21-22.
Devotion, a heart full of the love of the Beloved, makes each day an adventure and you sing with David, “This is the day which the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24. Each day is an opportunity to go deeper and deeper into our knowing of one another—to see life more clearly, to love more dearly, to follow the way more precisely, day by day. Devotion is living the extraordinary in the what others find ordinary because of all the beautiful and new things I’m showing you day by day.
Devotion makes every day and every moment special and important because you are with Me and I am with you. You are in Christ but He is also in you, your hope of glory, so that our place of prayer becomes a place of divine encounters where you become full of My fullness, for when I come to you, you receive everything I have and am. You are with Me always and all I have is yours. And there with Me in the secret place I strengthen you with power through My Spirit pouring My love into your heart “so that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:17-19.
When Moses was on the mountain with Me in the cloud of glory, talking with Me and learning from Me, even seeing the creation of the world as I revealed to him the book of Genesis, and wrote the ten commandments for him on tablets of stone, he had no interest to eat or drink, the living water of My presence and the bread of life in Me sustained him. And thousands of years later you again find him in My presence in the cloud of glory coming to visit Jesus on the holy mountain he had so desired to see. Yes, the transfiguration.
Devotion keeps you going, even when the going gets rough because of unbelievers. Daniel’s devotion was so great he went into a den of hungry lions rather then stop his times of fellowship with Me. And his devotion made him unassailable. He had no fear, he knew Me and I had never let him down. When Nebuchadnezzar was going to put all his wisemen and advisors to death unless they told him his dream and interpreted it, Daniel had no fear. He knew where to go for the answer. He and his three companions who had been taken captive to Babylon from Judah by Nebuchadnezzar and his army were devoted to Me, never budging off My laws and commandments, and they simply prayed I would reveal this dream to Daniel and its meaning and then they all peacefully went to bed to sleep and during the night I informed Daniel of the dream and its meaning. He knew Me, just ask and receive with no anxiety about anything but in everything cast the care on Me and I was there for him.
“To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for You have given me wisdom and power; even now You have made known to me what we requested of You, for You have made known to us the king’s matter.” Daniel 2:23.
And it was a prophetic dream that you should all take note of for it is about the last days. Daniel 2:31-45. And his three companions were like him, so devoted to Me they went into a fiery furnace rather than bow to an idol as their god. And I went in with them and turned that fiery furnace into a garden of Eden for them, as if walking in the cool, breezy time of the day as they sang praise, and they came out unharmed.
Devotion keeps you in My presence even when the going gets rough. Like Paul and Silas singing praise lying chained to the floor in a dark prison cell in Philippi rather than back down and stop preaching the good news and I was right there with them, shaking off the chains, opening the gates, and filling that place with My glory, bringing new birth to the prisoners and the jailer and his entire household.
Devotion is not just a feeling, it is a commitment that is stronger then death and never backs down and never retreats from seeking the One your heart loves.
Put me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, its ardor is as inflexible as Sheol; its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. Many waters cannot quench love, nor will rivers overflow it; if a man were to give all the riches of his house for love, it would be utterly despised. Song of Songs 8:6-7.
You may not realize this, but devotion is not just one way. I am devoted to you. Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior and you are precious in My sight, you are honored and I love you. Isaiah 43:1-4.
Devotion is an engagement of the heart. Remember where your treasure is, there your heart is also. You are My special treasure, though all the earth is Mine. Remember the two disciples with cold and depressed hearts walking to Emmaus the day I raised Jesus from the dead? Their encounter with Jesus, and in seeing Him you are seeing Me, changed everything. His devotion set their hearts aflame and set them in motion.
Being devoted to Me is a consecration of your life to the truth. And if that is your heart, set apart for Me, you will not be caught off guard when Jesus returns. You will be ready, busy about Kingdom things.
I love you. Devotion keeps your eyes on the one you are devoted to. It keeps you attached to the vine and very fruitful. Keep your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith, and you will be more than a conqueror.