To Know Him: A 31-Day Devotional Journey

By Maria Y Drayton

Maria Drayton, author of: The King and I: Steps for Living in today’s world through Intimacy with the Lord.  She shares her desire to spread God’s word and her love of the Lord with readers that  also want to know God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Encouragement Cafe Ministries Inc
• Release date: Mar 9, 2020
• ISBN: 9781792335174

Book preview

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To Know Him

A 31-Day Devotional Journey

MN

Real-Life Biblical Application

Devotional Transparency

By

Maria Drayton

To Know Him

A 31 Day Devotional Journey

Copyright ©2020

Published by Encouragement Café Press

PO Box 1237

Clemmons, NC 27012

All Rights Reserved

ISBN

No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retreival system, or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, mechanical. photocopy,recording, scanning or any other-except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the author.

Scripture quotations from The Authorized (King James) Version. Rights in the Authorized Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Reproduced by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.

Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963 1968, 1971, 1972,1973 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Used by permission. http://www.Lockman.org

Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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I would like to dedicate this book to my son, Anthony (he prefers to go by Tony), who is named after my mom, Toni. He has been my biggest miracle and blessing, all in one. I hope that the stories that I’ve shared in this book are a guide to him as he journeys through this thing called life.

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Foreword

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I have read many devotionals in my Christian life, and I think that Maria Drayton has captured the purpose of what a devotional should bring to the reader. Her writings are so exciting and honest. She has a unique ability to mix theology with everyday occurrences, and all who read this book will be encouraged.

The Biblical applications are the result of real-life experiences, and I know people will benefit from those examples. Maria brings a real sense of who God is to each believer. This knowledge will result in a greater joy in the life of the Christian who applies these truths. A devotional should bring an understanding of the nature of God, and Maria does impart that essence.

I endorse this book, and I would suggest each believer obtain a copy and read it with the expectation of walking in victory every day of your life. Once again, Maria has done a great job, and I appreciate her insight.

Grace and Peace to all,

Bishop Eric A. Lambert, Jr.

Pastor, Bethel Deliverance International Church

Introduction

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I want to be God’s partner. Partnering with Him in saving souls, blessing people, comforting the hurting, lifting the lost, and even healing the sick. I don’t take this request lightly and I consider it an honor to share with you, the reader, all that I’m learning as I journey through God’s Word and apply it to my daily life.

It’s a lifelong journey and an exciting one that I’m on. I encourage you to read along as I discover the wonderful living power of the Word of God. By applying the Bible to my daily life, I invite God into my heart and mind and, with Him there, He directs my steps.

There are many lessons that I’ve learned and am still learning. I desire to do God’s will for my life and others. Being fully committed to the Lord, I don’t consider myself to have arrived, but seek Him in everything that I do.

The Holy Spirit is my guide and I am forever indebted to Him for teaching me the ways of the Lord and guiding me through the truth of His Word. My journey in life has caused me to consider myself more and more to be nothing, so that I may exalt Him all the more. I thank God for using me to relay His Word in real life examples and application from what I experience daily. My prayer is that the reader of this book realizes they are not alone in their journey and that there are good days and bad days, but with God, all things are made possible.

"But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.

He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good,

and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."

Matthew 5: 44-45 NIV

Wings of an Eagle

"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary;

and they shall walk, and not faint." Isaiah 40:31 KJV

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As I sat and gazed into the sky, admiring all that God had created, I saw something. No, I didn’t just see something. It was a hawk. I watched in amazement as he seemed to glide effortlessly through the sky. Only flapping once or twice, he would then just simply glide the rest of the way. It was a beautiful sight.

I thought about the scripture that reminds us:

Do not worry….Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Matthew 6:25-26 NIV

As I marveled at the perspective the Lord was sharing, I saw something else. I had never seen this before, and if I were still living in the city, I probably never would have. The hawk that I had been eyeing was now perched on top of a telephone pole. But he was not alone! Seeing what I thought at first was a battle of the birds, I continued to watch, realizing it wasn’t that at all, but that the crows were attacking the hawk. I couldn’t believe it! The thought came to me, These crows must have a death wish. Certainly the hawk (if he chose) could have them for lunch and dinner.

I continued to stare, by this point feeling like it was a movie. I waited for the hawk to lunge or fight back or maybe even fly away. But he did none of the above. He sat right there and did not move. Before long, there were more crows