"Abide in me and I in you... whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit." 

(John 15:4-5)

Maintaining a vital connection to the Lord Jesus lies at the heart of a living faith in him and that connection is found by allowing Jesus' words to penetrate deep into our hearts and lives: "If you abide in me and my words abide in you..." (John 15v7).

Many people have found the best means of staying connected has been taking a few moments every day to reflect and ponder and chew over a few verses of scripture, allowing the Holy Spirit to explode Jesus’ words like a depth-bomb in our hearts and minds, before turning those thoughts into prayer.

"I regard the Scripture and these great statements in it as being comparable to a great art gallery where there are famous paintings hanging on the walls. Certain people, when they visit such a place, buy a catalogue from the guide at the door, and then holding it in their hands walk round the gallery. They notice that Item Number 1 is a painting by Van Dyck, let us say; and they say ‘Ah, that is a Van Dyck’. Then they pass on hurriedly to Item Number 2, which is perhaps a portrait by Rembrandt. ‘Ah,’ they say, ‘that’s a Rembrandt, a famous picture’. Then they move on to further Items in the same way. I grant that that is a possible way of viewing the treasures of an art gallery; and yet I have a feeling that when such a person has gone through every room of the gallery and has said, ‘Well, we have “done” the National Gallery, let us now go to the Tate Gallery’, the truth is that they have never really 'seen' either of the galleries or their treasures. It is the same in regard to the Scriptures. There are people who walk through [a] chapter … and they feel that they have ‘done’ it. It is surely better to stand, if necessary, for hours before this chapter which has been given to us by God himself through his Spirit, and to gaze upon it, and to try to discover its riches both in general and in detail."

(D. M. Lloyd-Jones, God’s Ultimate Purpose, Banner of Truth, 1978, 171.)

Here are some useful resources to help you ponder, reflect and meditate on the Bible:

Open up the Bible has some realistic & helpful encouragement (articles and video) to get into the Bible daily. It also offers free download sample of Explore which is also available as an Android app and as an iPhone app.

JC Ryle’s Expository thoughts on the Gospels are a brilliant place to start with daily Bible reading. They’re available as a Kindle book or iBook for free download, online or in print as daily readings

Some years ago Glen Scrivener produced a video series Reading between the Lines on the biblical phrases that are part of our everyday language. This has been reworked in print form as Reading between the Lines, volume 1 & volume 2, as a daily dose of the goodness of Jesus from Genesis onwards, pointing to Jesus at the heart of the Scriptures. It is available as a daily podcast

10ofthose are producing some undated notes which seem really good, available in print or as download for Kindle/iBook. Try John or 1 Thessalonians for starters.

Alec Motyer has produced 2 ‘by the day’ devotionals - one on Isaiah and the other on Psalms. They are superb! (although the footnotes are very frustrating because they’re not always aligned on the right page)

Jon Bloom has written some thoughtful meditations - Not by sight, Things not seen, Don’t follow your heart - The pdfs are available for free download - or the books from amazon.