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Dear Friend, It is a blessing that you have decided to take the Journey in Knowing Him Day by Day. I cannot encourage you enough, once you start this journey, to not let it fall by the wayside. You will have continued victory through the Lord Jesus Christ as you follow Him. This book is not offered to fix your problems, but as a tool to help you draw closer to the One Who can help you. The more you know about Him, the easier it is to love Him. The more you love Him, the easier it is to follow Him. The more you follow Him, the easier it is to discern His will for your life. The more you follow His will, the more you will be blessed. And the more you are blessed, the more you will want to know Him. It truly is a wonderful cycle that will keep you on the right path. May the Lord continue to bless as you follow Him. Dr. Rick Carter Jr. Ph.D. Founder of the H.O.P.E. International Addictions Program 2
Day By Day Day by day and with each passing moment, Strength I find to meet my trials here; Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment, I've no cause for worry or for fear. He whose heart is kind beyond all measure Gives unto each day what He deems best - Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure, Mingling toil with peace and rest. Ev ry day the Lord Himself is near me With a special mercy for each hour; All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me, He whose name is Counsellor and Pow r. The protection of His child and treasure Is a charge that on Himself He laid; As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure, This the pledge to me He made. Help me then in ev ry tribulation, So to trust Thy promises, O Lord, That I lose not faith's sweet consolation Offered me within Thy holy Word. Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting, E're to take, as from a father's hand, One by one, the days, the moments fleeting, Till I reach the Promised Land. Andrew Skoog, Oscar Ahnfelt, Carolina V. Sandell Berg 3
How to use your Knowing Him Day by Day devotional There are three parts to the Knowing Him Day by Day devotional. They are: Bible Reading, Prayer, and The Enhanced Walk. The first part is Bible Reading. You are encouraged to read daily a chapter from Proverbs, which corresponds with the day of the month. Proverbs is a great book of wisdom. Through its study and contemplation God can give you direction in life. There is also a schedule to help you read through the Bible in a year. The Bible is how God speaks to you. There are three things you should do as you read the Bible. First, you Read. It is not important how much you read, as much as it is important that you read. Some days you may read a chapter or more; some days you may read only a few verses before God begins to speak to you. Before you begin, take time to ask God to open your eyes to things in His Word. The Bible is a spiritual book, and the natural man does not understand it. Psalm 119 verse 18 (Psalm 119:18) says, Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. Asking God to open your eyes to His truths is vital to seeing what God wants you to learn. As you read, there may be words that you do not understand. God says in 2 Timothy 2:15, Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. A great way to study the Word of God is to use a dictionary to look up words. Words you know may have multiple definitions depending on their use in a verse. Looking up words as you study is a process we call Identify and Investigate. First, you identify the words with which you are unfamiliar and write them down in a notebook or in your daily reading section. Then you investigate. Take a dictionary and look up the words to find the meaning, and get the intent of the Scripture. We recommend the 1828 Webster's dictionary, which gives Bible definitions and actually uses Bible verses in it to explain many words. In this way you can get a very clear sense of what God is saying to you through His Word. This dictionary can be purchased in book form, or you can access it online for free. To access this dictionary online, do a search for Webster s 1828 dictionary and it will bring up numerous sites that you may use. A third option for using this dictionary is to download e-sword, a free Bible program that also has a free downloadable copy of the dictionary. Whatever dictionary you use, it will be a help to you to better understand the Word of God. The second part of Bible reading is to Review. Once God speaks to you through His Word, pick out a verse or part of a verse from the passage that you can then review. Write this passage on a 3x5 card and carry it with you throughout the day. Frequently read it and attempt to commit it to memory. Memorizing the Bible is one way that God says we can keep ourselves from sin. Psalm 119:11 says, Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. The third part of Bible reading is to Reflect. Reflecting on what you have read is also called meditation. God gave a promise in Joshua 1:8 where it says, This book of the law shall not 4
depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. You see, God promises that if you will reflect or meditate on His Word and obey it, you will be prosperous and have good success in life. That is not to say you will have a lot of money and possessions, but that God will take care of your needs. The second part of the Day by Day devotional is to spend time in prayer. A man once preached with a big road barricade on the platform. On the barricade there was a huge stop sign. He told the crowd when we come to a problem in life, we need to STOP: Seek The Options Prayerfully. With that thought in mind, when we see a stop sign, it should remind us to pray. Jesus gave us a model to follow when we pray. We call it the Lord s model prayer. There are five parts to this prayer. The first part is Praise. It says in Matthew 6:9, After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. There is a space provided each day to record praises. You should praise God for who He is, as well as for what He has done. We call praising God for what He has done thankfulness. On the back of the 3x5 card, which your verse is on, make three columns. Label them: AM, Noon, and PM. In the morning, list three things for which you can be thankful to God. Repeat this at noon and in the evening. David said in Psalm 55:17, Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice. Doing this will keep your mind focused on all the good things God is doing and has already done for you. You will be maintaining an attitude of prayer and thankfulness to God. The second part of the model prayer is to Obey. Matthew 6:10 says, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. God s will is done on earth as we obey His Word. Jesus said to pray that God would help you fulfill His will for your life. Each day there are things that God wants you to do; things like sharing with others how they can know Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. The third part of the model prayer is Provide. Matthew 6:11 says, Give us this day our daily bread. Jesus taught that each day God wants to provide your needs. We must learn to depend on Him alone. Jesus wants to be the One you go to at all times. Instead of trusting the things of this world, you should go to Him to find peace and provision. Constantly asking others to give you things will continually promote dependence on men instead of dependence upon God. The fourth part of the model prayer is Forgive. Matthew 6:12 says, And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Forgiveness is asking God to forgive us for our daily sins, as well as us forgiving others when they offend us. We have a great promise from God in 1 John 1:9, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. God is gracious and forgives us when we call upon Him. He asks us not to keep unforgiveness and bitterness toward others in our heart. God is very serious about this point. He says in Psalm 66:18, If I regard iniquity (not dealing with sin) in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. Forgiveness must be a daily part of your prayers, keeping your heart clean before Him and your account clean with others. 5
The fifth and final part of the prayer section is Deliverance. Jesus explains this in Matthew 6:13, And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. God s purpose is not just forgiveness when you fall. He wants to keep you from falling. This prayer is asking Him to keep you from the temptations you face each day, and to deliver you from giving in to the temptation when it comes. God says in 1 Corinthians 10:13, There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. You see, God tells you that He will provide you a way to escape and overcome temptation if you will ask Him to and follow His instructions. If you have a prayer request that doesn t fit in any of these areas, list it under the space titled, Other. The final section of the Day by Day devotional is The Enhanced Walk, which includes using Bible studies, books and recorded messages. In this section you should record any extra work you do to further your knowledge of Him. You do not have to read a book each day, but you may want to read a chapter, or even just a few paragraphs of a good biblically sound book. You may listen to a message on CD or tape. Possibly your church will provide you with a Bible study that you do a few days a week. Remember that the goal of the Day by Day devotional is to really get to Know Him. Do not stop with the minimum; the more you invest the more you will reap. Remember what God tells us in 2 Corinthians 9:6, But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. You will want to get a card file box to put your 3x5 cards in at the end of each day. They will prove to be valuable to you on days when you are struggling to keep your mind on the goodness of God. You will be able to bring them out and read all the things for which you have to be thankful to God. There is a space provided at the top of each page to mark that you have filled out your card for the day. These sections of Bible Reading, Prayer, and The Enhanced Walk make up the Knowing Him Day by Day devotional. We believe this is a powerful tool to assist you in knowing Christ, walking with Him, learning to allow Him to direct your life on a day- by-day basis. The more you learn of Christ, the closer you will walk with Him. The closer you walk with Him, the more power and freedom you will experience in your life. This is a promise from God, and we are convinced that if you follow this program you will see real and lasting results. 6
Example Page Date Bible Reading 3x5 card _X_ Other reading / Proverbs 1: Verse 5: Hearing from God increases my learning and helps me get the right counsel for life. Psalm 1:1-6: God wants me to keep the right kind of friends and stay away from bad influences. Finished 2 steps, for my wife, God s grace to forgive me Quit smoking, witness more bill money this month my angry outburst this morning, I need to forgive my dad for my childhood hurts from temptation to drink, from lustful thoughts the missionary that was in church Sunday, My friend Jack and his family Source: Listened to message by my pastor 7
April 1 Luke 8:1-21: Judges 6-7: Proverbs 1: 8
April 2 Luke 8:22-56: Judges 8-9: Proverbs 2: 9
April 3 Luke 9:1-36: Judges 10-11: Proverbs 3: 10
April 4 Luke 9:37-62: Judges 12-14: Proverbs 4: 11
April 5 Luke 10:1-24: Judges 15-17: Proverbs 6: 12
April 6 Luke 10:25-42: Judges 18-19: Proverbs 6: 13
April 7 Luke 11:1-28: Judges 20-21: Proverbs 7: 14
April 8 Luke 11:29-54: Ruth: Proverbs 8: 15
April 9 Luke 12:1-34: 1 Samuel 1-3: Proverbs 9: 16
April 10 Luke 12:35-59: 1 Samuel 4-6: Proverbs 10: 17
April 11 Luke 13:1-21: 1 Samuel 7-9: Proverbs 11: 18
April 12 Luke 13:22-35: 1 Samuel 10-12: Proverbs 12: 19
April 13 Luke 14:1-24: 1 Samuel 13-14: Proverbs 13: 20
April 14 Luke 14:25-35: 1 Samuel 15-16: Proverbs 14: 21
April 15 Luke 15:1-10: 1 Samuel 17-18: Proverbs 15: 22
April 16 Luke 15:11-32: 1 Samuel 19-21: Proverbs 16: 23
April 17 Luke 16:1-18: 1 Samuel 22-24: Proverbs 17: 24
April 18 Luke 16:19-31: 1 Samuel 25-26: Proverbs 18: 25
April 19 Luke 17:1-19: 1 Samuel 27-29: Proverbs 19: 26
April 20 Luke 17:20-37: 1 Samuel 30-31: Proverbs 20: 27
April 21 Luke 18:1-17: 2 Samuel 1-3: Proverbs 21: 28
April 22 Luke 18:18-43: 2 Samuel 4-6: Proverbs 22: 29
April 23 Luke 19:1-28: 2 Samuel 7-9: Proverbs 23: 30
April 24 Luke 19:29-48: 2 Samuel 10-12: Proverbs 24: 31
April 25 Luke 20:1-26: 2 Samuel 13-14: Proverbs 25: 32
April 26 Luke 20:27-47: 2 Samuel 15-16: Proverbs 26: 33
April 27 Luke 21:1-19: 2 Samuel 17-18: Proverbs 27: 34
April 28 Luke 21:20-38: 2 Samuel 19-20: Proverbs 28: 35
April 29 Luke 22:1-30: 2 Samuel 21-22: Proverbs 29: 36
April 30 Luke 22:31-53: 2 Samuel 23-24: Proverbs 30: 37
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May 1 Luke 22:54-71: 1 Kings 1-2: Proverbs 1: 51
May 2 Luke 23:1-26: 1 Kings 3-5: Proverbs 2: 52
May 3 Luke 23:27-38: 1 Kings 6-7: Proverbs 3: 53
May 4 Luke 23:39-56: 1 Kings 8-9: Proverbs 4: 54
May 5 Luke 24:1-35: 1 Kings 10-11: Proverbs 5: 55
May 6 Luke 24:36-53: 1 Kings 12-13: Proverbs 6: 56
May 7 John 1:1-28: 1 Kings 14-15: Proverbs 7: 57
May 8 John 1:29-51: 1 Kings 16-18: Proverbs 8: 58
May 9 John 2: 1 Kings 19-20: Proverbs 9: 59
May 10 John 3:1-21: 1 Kings 21-22: Proverbs 10: 60
May 11 John 3:22-36: 2 Kings 1-3: Proverbs 11: 61
May 12 John 4:1-30: 2 Kings 4-5: Proverbs 12: 62
May 13 John 4:31-54: 2 Kings 6-8: Proverbs 13: 63
May 14 John 5:1-24: 2 Kings 9-11: Proverbs 14: 64
May 15 John 5:25-47: 2 Kings 12-14: Proverbs 15: 65
May 16 John 6:1-21: 2 Kings 15-17: Proverbs 16: 66
May 17 John 6:22-44: 2 Kings 18-19: Proverbs 17: 67
May 18 John 6:5-71: 2 Kings 20-22: Proverbs 18: 68
May 19 John 7:1-31: 2 Kings 23-25: Proverbs 19: 69
May 20 John 7:32-53: 1 Chronicles 1-2: Proverbs 20: 70
May 21 John 8:1-20: 1 Chronicles 3-5: Proverbs 21: 71
May 22 John 8:21-36: 1 Chronicles 6-7: Proverbs 22: 72
May 23 John 8:37-59: 1 Chronicles 8-10: Proverbs 23: 73
May 24 John 9:1-23: 1 Chronicles 11-13: Proverbs 24: 74
May 25 John 9:24-41: 1 Chronicles 14-16: Proverbs 25: 75
May 26 John 10:1-21: 1 Chronicles 17-19: Proverbs 26: 76
May 27 John 10:22-42: 1 Chronicles 20-22: Proverbs 27: 77
May 28 John 11:1-17: 1 Chronicles 23-25: Proverbs 28: 78
May 29 John 11:18-46: 1 Chronicles 26-27: Proverbs 29: 79
May 30 John 11:47-57: 1 Chronicles 28-29: Proverbs 28: 80
May 31 John 12:1-19: 2 Chronicles 1-3: Proverbs 28: 81
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June 1 John 12:20-50: 2 Chronicles 4-6: Proverbs 1: 95
June 2 John 13:1-17: 2 Chronicles 7-9: Proverbs 2: 96
June 3 John 13:18-38: 2 Chronicles 10-12: Proverbs 3: 97
June 4 John 14: 2 Chronicles 13-16: Proverbs 4: 98
June 5 John 15: 2 Chronicles 17-19: Proverbs 5: 99
June 6 John 16:1-15: 2 Chronicles 20-22: Proverbs 6: 100
June 7 John 16:16-33: 2 Chronicles 23-25: Proverbs 7: 101
June 8 John 17 : 2 Chronicles 26-28: Proverbs 8: 102
June 9 John 18:1-23: 2 Chronicles 29-31: Proverbs 9: 103
June 10 John 18:24-40: 2 Chronicles 32-33: Proverbs 10: 104
June 11 John 19:1-22: 2 Chronicles 34-36: Proverbs 11: 105
June 12 John 19:23-42: Ezra 1-2: Proverbs 12: 106
June 13 John 20: Ezra 3-5: Proverbs 13: 107
June 14 John 21: Ezra 6-8: Proverbs 14: 108
June 15 Acts 1: Ezra 9-10: Proverbs 15: 109
June 16 Acts 2:1-13: Nehemiah 1-3: Proverbs 16: 110
June 17 Acts 2:14-47: Nehemiah 4-6: Proverbs 17: 111
June 18 Acts 3: Nehemiah 7-8: Proverbs 18: 112
June 19 Acts 4:1-22: Nehemiah 9-11: Proverbs 19: 113
June 20 Acts 4:23-37: Nehemiah 12-13: Proverbs 20: 114
June 21 Acts 5:1-16: Esther 1-3: Proverbs 21: 115
June 22 Acts 5:17-42: Esther 4-6: Proverbs 22: 116
June 23 Acts 6: Esther 7-10: Proverbs 23: 117
June 24 Acts 7:1-19: Job 1-3: Proverbs 24: 118
June 25 Acts 7:20-43: Job 4-6: Proverbs 25: 119
June 26 Acts 7:44-60: Job 7-9: Proverbs 26: 120
June 27 Acts 8:1-25: Job 10-12: Proverbs 27: 121
June 28 Acts 8:26-40: Job 13-15: Proverbs 28: 122
June 29 Acts 9:1-22: Job 16-18: Proverbs 29: 123
June 30 Acts 9:23-43: Job 19-20: Proverbs 30: 124
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