5 Simple ways to meet with Jesus Daily

Jan 30

We are almost finished with January and I am willing to bet that some of us have faltered some in that daily quiet time goal that we made at the beginning of the year. Maybe just me!

Sticking to anything is hard and life gets complicated fast and setting aside time to be with Jesus and spend time in prayer and bible study is hard.

Let’s be real…you probably set yourself up for failure.

Yet here is God’s grace and truth: you literally can not fail God.

Let’s hold on to grace for a moment and realize that Jesus is always waiting for us. He sits at our table and smiles on us and whispers encouragement and truth in our every day lives whether we are reading our bibles or not.

“He sits at our table and smiles on us and whispers encouragement and truth in our every day lives whether we are reading our bibles or not. ”

However, we don’t have to be told 1000 times to know that when we are in relationship with someone we have to spend time with that one. When we are in relationship with God, he calls us to know him deeply and spend time with him in his word and through prayer.

He is the same God who called to Adam and Eve in the Garden and all he desired was to walk with them in communion. You can not walk in communion with anyone if you have nothing in common. You can not be united with anyone if you don’t come together with them.

The God of all creation wants to be with you.

In my bible study, Abide and Testify, I write:

Throughout the Old Testament, we read of God being with the patriarchs. The Bible says God was with Joseph, God was with Moses, God was with Ishmael, God was with Enoch, God was with Solomon as He was with David. Then, after 400 years of silence, a baby enters the world.

John writes at the first chapter of his gospel, "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning" (John 1:1-3). God looked for those whose hearts were His. He desired to be with his children as He had been in the garden, but sin kept us from true communion. When Jesus came, he chose 12 to be with Him. To see and hear and know. Jesus turned everything around. God was not just with them, they were now able to be with God; God made flesh, living and breathing, breaking bread, weeping, and loving…God was with them and because of Jesus, they would forever be known as those who had been with Jesus.

We get to be with Jesus. We get to sit at his feet and sink deep into his love, learning from him and daily putting into practice all that his word says.

So why is this so hard? Because maybe we make it too complicated. Because like everything else, we must use tools to create good habits and establish rhythms that guide us towards meeting with Him.

5 Simple ways to Meet with Jesus Daily

1. Set up your space.

Set a designated space to meet with Jesus. I usually head to my dining room or sometimes Living area or office. Our coffee bar is literally next to the dining room, so I make a cup of yummy coffee, and have everything set up and ready so that I am not spending time looking for a pen or notebook or my bible. Which leads me to #2…

2. Create a Bible Basket

My basket has handles so that if I am inclined to, I can take my basket outside or to my office upstairs. My basket has everything I need for good bible study time, like high lighters, index cards, Tony Evan’s commentary (which I love), etc. You can find a great list of essentials and more in my FREE Bible Study Bundle.

3. One Verse a day can Transform your Life

If you haven’t gotten on board with what I confidently believe to be true, come on! One verse (or sometimes 2-3 for context sake) a day can transform your life friends. Keep your bible reading simple. Our Philippians study breaks down a chapter a week into bite sized, daily readings of sometime 1, sometimes 2-3 verses per day. If you were to take these few verses, write them on an index card, meditate on them daily, pray the scriptures over your lives, etc. you will be transformed! Download the reading guide here.

4. Let go of “supposed to’s”

The biggest hinderance in Christian living is holding on to religious ideas and things that we think we are “supposed to” do. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you before you read and then follow his promptings. You don’t have to read the bible in the year unless that is what God is asking of you; you don’t have to read a Psalm or Proverb everyday unless you are needing or wanting those teaching as a part of your study. It’s ok for your bible reading and study to look different than others. God is calling you to draw near to Him, so let go of what you think that has to look like and ask him, “what do you want me to know about your word and my life today?”

5. It’s ok to miss a day

There is so much more to a relationship with God than just reading your bible. You will come to love reading His word because you desire nearness with Him when you are consistently meeting with him all the time. Yes, all the time. Meeting with Jesus doesn’t have to be, nor should it be only sitting at the table reading. Jesus is with you always and my hope is that you come to recognize his being with you and constantly be in communication with Him. Keep verses everywhere so you can meditate and speak to him about how to apply scripture to your life every moment of the every day. Intimacy with God is a constant, non stop, communion where in all the things you walk through, you walk in communion with him, you have in common with him and are united with him. This is holy communion. You can never miss a day with God because you can be with him everyday, you simply have to recognize his presence.

“Intimacy with God is a constant, non stop, communion where in all the things you walk through, you walk in communion with him, you have in common with him and are united with him.”

What if we truly believed God is with us and we can be with him everyday and in all circumstances of our day. What grace is there in such thinking and understanding! Reading your bible is one of the simplest and best ways to know God’s heart and to live our lives according to what He desires and it can be so simple, one verse a day. And then there is grace, knowing He is with us and we really can never fail or miss out on what He has for us, because He is always waiting for us to invite him into our every hour, every moment, every day life. That’s how we live near to him. That is how we live daily with him. That is how others will know we have been with him.