Devotional Commentary-It's Habit-Forming!

"I am so grateful for the devotional commentary you taught us, my quiet time with Him has changed completely!  I even found the notebook you have and now I’m into Ephesians!" Anne

In February, I had the great privilege of spending an entire long weekend with three lovely women in the throes of motherhood. You can read about it here. The weekend was purposeful; they were there to be discipled, to be poured into for the purpose of strengthening and deepening their relationship with God. It was just me and the three of them in a lovely home together focusing on how to develop lasting habits of discipleship. What wonderful willing women God sent to me!

The days were spent in teaching, cooking together, eating together, walks in the Leave-It-To-Beaver neighborhood with marsh views and, of course, teaching and sharing. The teaching centered in the two discipleship books Mike and I have written. One of the Essentials in the Essentials Discipleship Book 2 is what we call the "anchor" of our walk with Him, the use of a Devotional Commentary.

We teach our disciples to be in the Word daily and to engage with the Word using a template to guide their experience with the text. It is called the Devotioal Commentary because it is different than Bible Study or reading something someone else thought about the Word. We teach them to read the Word for themselves and through a series of questions, to write down their thoughts.

We suggest working through a book of the Bible. We help by giving them a breakdown or "map" of the book with suggestions for what verses to read and write their commentary about each day. They read the verses for the day, pray to God asking for wisdom and understanding and off they go! The first part of the template is O for Observations. They write down facts they glean from the verses. They simply list them. They don't have to be in order or eloquent. Just things they see in the text. Next is A for Assessment/Application. They are taught to choose one or more of those facts and comment on them, thinking about what they mean and how they can apply the principles to their lives. Finally, P is for Prayer. They take the A section where they have identified things to know and do and ask God for the grace and strength to do them. Finally, they identify attributes of God that are demonstrated in the verse and jot them down. Then up to the top of the page they write a title of key words to help them remember what they have learned. There it is! It took fifteen minutes and they have engaged with the Word for themselves, written principles to know and follow and prayed for grace to do so. They have honored God by acknowledging His worthy character and have noted key words to remember what they have learned! They have made a Devotional Commentary!

It is so satisfying to complete devotional commentaries on an entire book of the bible and realize that you have written your own commentary on that book! The beauty of this system is that it engages you with the Word YOURSELF. You are not reading someone else's thoughts or devotions, but are learning that the Word speaks to YOU.

I usually give the beginners small booklets all divided out with Scripture at the top of each page and the template ready for them to fill in the blank. After they complete these, they are encouraged to use the Devotional Commentary Map of a book of the Bible and write their Devotionals on a template page and keep them in a binder. Finally, I show them some of my notebooks. I have been doing Devotional Commentaries for decades in blank hardback journals and write the template in as I go.

I was overjoyed a couple of weeks after this last Ladies Discipleship weekend to receive this picture and this text from Anne, one of my dear ladies.

"I am so grateful for the devotional commentary you taught us, my quiet time with Him has changed completely!  I even found the notebook you have and now I’m into Ephesians!" Anne

If you are interested in attending a Ladies Discipleship weekend, contact Joanne Chastain via the information at the bottom of the page.