DEVOTION:

Devotion means love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person, activity, or cause.

Acts 2:42
The Fellowship of the Believers

42
And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the
breaking of bread and the prayers.

This verse portrays a healthy and vibrant church. You wanna know what made them
healthy? It’s their devotion to God. Their loyalty to God. They were enthusiastic or may
gana sila to grow in their relationship with Him.
And in being devoted two God, two things are needed.
1. Word of God
The word of God is what? The bible.
Did you know that the bible is composed of different literary styles, may stories, poems,
prose such as letters, essays, at mga laws all compressed in one book with unified
message from the beginning and the end?
Now why do we need to read the bible?
a. The bible is our key to spiritual growth
-Alam niyo guys pangarap ko to satin, na mag grow tayo spiritually, hindi yung stagnant
lang, walang nangyayari, gusto ko yung palalim lang tayo ng palalim pero at the end of
the day its always up to you, because personal growth is always a personal choice.

Sabi sa 1 Peter 2:2-3

2
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into
salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Para daw kasi tayong baby, hindi baby niya ah. Para tayong baby na kailangan ng milk
so that what? It can grow. And our milk for us to grow ay yung bible. Kailangan nating
basahin at intndihin ang salita ng Diyos so we can grow. Wag nating hayaan na habang
buhay nalang tayong baby Christians lang tayo. Kailangan lumalaki tayo hindi physically
ah wala na ata akong magagawa dun but spiritually. Yun naman talaga ang goal in the
first place diba kaya tayo nag gaganto para lumago at maging mas malalim.
b. The word of God is now our standards in every area of our lives.
Psalm 119:9,11
9
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.

11
I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.

Kung dati ang standard natin ay maka mundo, this time lahat ng standard natin ay
naayon na dapat sa salita ng Diyos so that what? We can avoid sinning so we can
make ourselves pure.
Kung ang standard ng mundo ay nag sasabing kailangan natin ng jowa para maging
kumpleto, ang standard ng salita ng Diyos si Lord ang kukumpleto sayo dahil an
incomplete person can never complete another incomplete person.
Kung ang standard ng mundo sinabing sige uminom ka, mag bisyo ka kasi yun ang
solusyon sa mga problema ang sabi ng salita ng Diyos lumapit ka sakaniya and He will
be with you at tutulungan ka niya every step of the way.
Ito na ang basehan natin. It’s not gonna be easy but its possible.

2. Prayer

Christianity will never be about religion. It will always be about relationship with God.
And again, what is the foundation to any relationship? Communication and
comprehension.
Hindi naman sapat na puro basa lang tayo di naman pala natin iniintindi. And diba
just like any relationship communicate kayo ng communicate di naman pala
naiintindihan.
The better we communicate and comprehend, the better the relationship will be.
Take the time to communicate to God through what? Through prayers and
comprehend His words.
Sabi sa librong ito, Jesus told us to pray to the Father, not to the mother, saints, or
angels. We are to pray through Jesus because He is the only way to the Father.

1 Timothy 2:5
5
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the
man[a] Christ Jesus,

The question is how do we pray?

So sa bible daw Jesus taught His disciples on how to pray.

Matthew 6:9-13

9
Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.[a]
10
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,[b]
on earth as it is in heaven.
11
Give us this day our daily bread,[c]
12
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.[d]

Alam kong alam niyo yang prayer nayan and often times paulit ulit nalang yang pinag
dadasal now I’m not saying na mali yun its just pag memorized na wala na yung puso
kapag nag dadasal but its fine kung dinadasal mo talaga and you mean every word.
Ang tinuturo kasi dito ni Lord is yung pattern on how we pray:

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name

Worship and Praise

10
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,[b]
on earth as it is in heaven.

The Lord is teaching us to pray according to His will. We will only know His will if
we know His words.

11
Give us this day our daily bread,[c]

Bring you requests to the Lord but again, this should be inline with His will. Baka
naman ang pinag ppray mo sana bumagsak yung kaaway mo.

Be specific in your prayer requests. You don’t have to speak beautiful words you
have to be specific because the more specific the prayers, the more specific the
answers will be.

12
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

The Lord is teaching us to confess our sins and ask for forgivness hindi lang sa
kasalanan mo pero sa kasalanan din ng mga nag kasala sayo. He’s teaching us to
also forgive.

13
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.[d]

The Lord is teaching us to seek for His protection so that hindi tayo mag kasala.

Again, being devoted requires two things:

Word and Prayer.

Reflection:
Do you have a set time and place for daily Bible reading and prayer? Share your
experiences.

How’s your experiences so far now that you’re involved in a bible study or small
group? What are your expectations.