The Innermost Place

By Nicole Bento McGhee

During our Christian walk, we learn the importance of prayer and reading the Bible. Many people have been successful with their devotional times without much guidance, but for the rest of us it is overwhelming, clumsy, and difficult to manage. Therefore, we might feel discouraged in our relationship with God.

This book offers a guide to developing personal devotional time. But as the process becomes more familiar and comfortable, you will develop your own style. There is no system or method that works better than others. What is written here is designed to give insight, understanding, and aid in developing a new habit. The five basic components I propose are essential for your personal devotion time: listen to music, pray, read the Bible, journal, and close in prayer. These basic components of devotional time are essential in gaining an understanding of who God is and how we can hear from Him and therefore become a follower of Jesus Christ.

The answer to the question How do I know when God is speaking to me? is found in your worship of Him with others in the church and in your personal devotions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 27, 2012
• ISBN: 9781449773908

Nicole Bento McGhee

Nicole Bento McGhee teaches children and teens, helping them develop their relationship with God. Through her struggles, she has learned to pray and understand the Bible and applies this insight with her students. Currently she attends Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary online and lives in Attleboro, Massachusetts, with her family.

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Copyright © 2012 by Nicole Bento McGhee.

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Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

"Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®,

Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,

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ISBN: 978-1-4497-7392-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-7391-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-7390-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012920667

WestBow Press rev. date: 11/20/2012

Contents

          Introduction

I.        The Encounter

II.       Essentials of Personal Devotion

II.       Practical Bible Application: Five Components

IV.       Breaking Down a Big Thick Book

V.     Stepping into Purpose

VI.    The Extra in Ordinary

VII.   His Promise

To you, the reader. Know that I am praying for you as you take

this active step toward a deeper relationship with God and a

deeper sense of purpose.

For my late grandmother Dee-di. Thank you for making sure

God was my foundation.

I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV).

Introduction

The innermost place is beautiful. It is life transforming. It is sacred. We enter into God’s Most Holy Place—the very presence of God—and He steps into our hearts. Our inner being and God’s Most Holy Place connect. As we draw near to God, He draws near to us. As we seek after God, He will be found. He cleanses our inner being from unrighteousness and teaches us His wisdom. There is nothing more intimate and necessary in this life than to be reconciled to God.

Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place (Psalm 51:6 NIV). Truth and wisdom are taught from within. God meets us and speaks life’s purpose into our lives.

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James 4:8 NKJV).

I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me (Proverbs 8:17 NIV).

Those who believe in the saving grace of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection have been given the privilege, right, and responsibility of being in the presence of God (see Romans 10:9-10, 13).

The profound and miraculous connection of our innermost being and the heavenly realm of the Most Holy Place is taught in Hebrews 10:19-23: Therefore, brethren, having the boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful (NKJV).

This passage in Hebrews teaches that what took place on earth when Jesus died also took place in heaven. Jesus’ shed blood was the only perfect sacrifice; and because He gave His life for ours, the veil that separated man from God was torn in the earthly sanctuary (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45). Jesus is now the veil and the way (John 14:6) that we approach the Most Holy Place where God dwells.

We are commanded to draw near to God boldly. This passage in Hebrews 10 gives instructions on how to do so.

True Heart: We must approach God with a true heart. This means sincerely and genuinely offering our hearts to God, honestly repenting and confessing our desire for God.

Faith: We can only approach God with the full assurance of faith, having confidence in God’s promises that we may enter into His presence, and having faith in Who He is.

Inner cleansing: In God’s presence, being washed from an evil conscience and having our hearts cleansed, we recognize that we are sinful and that only Jesus’ shed blood can cleanse our conscience. Confession of our sin and belief in Jesus washes us in the inner parts.

Hope: We are to hold onto our hope in who God is—without wavering and without giving up. Our faith and our hope are strengthened because we have experienced God.

Even though we may be good people with good intentions, without God we are not fulfilling our life’s purpose. This life has disappointments. We have health problems and financial problems. Relationships are not satisfying. We go to school, work hard in our careers, give to charities, and support good causes. We love our family. We pray. However, something is missing, incomplete. There is a yearning, but what will satisfy? We try to fill ourselves with what the world is selling. To what end do we strive after these things?

You are not reading this book accidentally. Scripture teaches that we seek after God, not in our own effort or power, but because God is drawing us unto Himself. He meets us in our mess. The piece that is missing, the absence we’re trying to fill, will never be satisfied until we surrender our will to God. God desires to teach us His way, fill us with His wisdom, and speak His purpose into our lives.

The Innermost Place teaches that in a healthy and fulfilling relationship with the Lord, we have God’s promises. When we find God in the Most Holy Place, and He finds us in our inner being, we are blessed. These blessings include the promise of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). We learn to step away from indulging ourselves and step towards loving God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Matthew 22:37; Deuteronomy 6:5). This is what we were created for: to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and to have a more abundant life. It is in this lifelong walk with Him that we have true freedom and abundance.

During our Christian walk, we learn the importance of prayer and reading the Bible. Many people have been successful with their devotional times without much guidance, but for the rest of us it is overwhelming, clumsy, and difficult to manage. Therefore, we might feel discouraged in our relationship with God. But we can take courage because there are many great devotional studies that offer insight into the Word of God. I have been blessed in my spiritual growth by reading such books. However, this is not a devotional study. The Innermost Place is a guide and a tool to help you as a child of God to hear from God directly. It is not a magic formula. Simply reading this book will not change your life. You must be determined to apply its teachings. It is a book on how to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

The beginning of this study helps us to reflect on our lives: where we are and where we should be. The great art of silence has been lost in our society and, as a result, God is competing with our distractions. We must develop a habit of drawing close to God through worship, prayer, reading the Bible, and journaling. The teachings in this book bring us to a place of learning how to pray and to read the Bible and apply its principles to our lives. Two components that are commonly overlooked are worship and journaling. This is what makes this book unique. Listening to worship music at the start of devotional time prepares our