It is a really good thing to reach out to those around us, whether in person or digitally, by expressing our love and our devotion to God. It is quite another thing to be telling people what to do today, and sometimes what to do and what to expect for a whole week, and sometimes for a whole year. We have just been through the latter, crossing the threshold (into 2026}where people are making resolutions and commitments for the next year.  A great many greetings that go out daily position themselves as grounded in a Bible verse or a maxim that arises from the Scriptures.  It becomes a completely chaotic landscape when the thoughts delivered in the greeting are not anchored to the Bible verse or verses or maxim.  Devotional mayhem is the result of dreadfully unhinged daily greetings, encouragement, and exhortation.  This popular pastime, building on the ashes of Mosaic Judaism, mixed with sentiments from the New Testament and popular folklore, pretends to tell people what to do and especially what not to do. Most devotionals go astray quickly and fatally.

Juvenile puddling does not make a river

Who or what you might think you are, jumping in between God and his blood-bought property, is most likely not a healthy entity.  We cannot deny that understanding God’s will for today is an intensely private matter.  Playing around in shallow puddles and doing swimming motions is profoundly irresponsible and misleading.  Understanding and performing God’s will is a secure operation. It is not vulnerable to large campaigns or guerilla operations.  Let us make two things abundantly clear.

• People who are not understanding God’s will were not granted the mind to do so.
• People who are not performing God’s will or work have not been given the task.

Scrambling out of our ditches

We can only penitently glance at the fact that the river of God is that which flows directly from God’s throne to the hearts of human beings by means of the Spirit. There is no need for an intermediary when we need to make decisions about spiritual things.  All the juvenile things we learned about God in Sunday school (as children) do not make a dent in the world of mature Christianity.  Tasty little puddings like (a) God only blesses perfect individuals (b) God keeps his distance if the believer goes to certain places and (c) God puts people in heaven or hell the moment they die.

GLADNESS GUARANTEED.  There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, The holy dwelling places of the Most High.

Psalms 46:4

SHEPHERDING SECURED. for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

Revelation of John 7:17

There are many devotional books written by persons with no background in Bible interpretation, many of whom may have had a dream or experience that caused them to reflect on God’s majesty and authority. 

Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, (Revelation of John 22:1)

So there is inspiration all around, but keeping our words in sync with the Bible will spare us a massive headache.  It is way better for us all, novice and learned, to be eager to show in a few minutes that we have grasped the meaning of a single word than to spend five minutes to an hour beating ’round the bush. 

Perhaps the most cruel and tortured version of the devotional is that prayer and fasting session, praise party or Bible Study where no one seems interested in lingering on the words of the Bible or the words of Yeshua.  Few seem to be aware that chewing on a single small morcel of Yeshua’s teaching. We’ve created scores of mantra-like sayings, beautiful recitations of grace. Not even a hundred prophets can deliver to us the flavours of GOD in an endless burst of nourishment. A lot of greetings and devotional material are appealing to the eye, and never hit the bulls eye. Let’s not keep wasting people’s time with unhinged sayings, proverbs or perverted popular Bible verses. Expressing love in helping ways should shape our devotional efforts.