Day 313: John 12:1 - 13:38

In the beginning of chapter 12, we read about a woman who was focused on nothing other than worshipping her God. She wasn't concerned about appearances or people's opinions, or anything of that matter. All she was concerned with was worshipping Him. In this day and age it seems there are so many people out there who get so offended by those who are willing to act "undignified" in the church. In my experience and based on what I can understand, dignity is less a matter of action and much more a matter of the heart. If it came between acting "dignified" or showing our true love for our Savior, we would be fools not to throw off the constraints of religion and worship Him with reckless abandon. Our generation doesn't need to learn how to "straighten up" in the church, we need to learn how to throw everything else out of the window and focus on the only thing that really matters - Our Lord.

- Father, show me how to worship You in such a way that has absolutely nothing to do with me and everything to do with me. Help me to remember that it's not about making everyone around me happy or comfortable, it's all about making You happy and honoring Your name in all that I do. -

Day 312: John 10:1 - 11:57

I've always liked the story of Lazarus because we are reminded of the importance of the fact that we cannot waste our time focusing on the problem, but rather put our focus on the solution. We read in this story that by the time Jesus showed up, everyone was focused on one thing - Lazarus' death. Twice someone even said to Jesus, "if you had been here, he wouldn't have died." But Jesus refused to be distracted by the current situation and made the decision to set His eyes on something entirely different - the solution. Jesus' ability to see beyond the problem to the answer is exactly what was necessary to turn the situation around for all of them. How many times in our lives have we allowed our focus to be placed on the problems in front of us when Jesus is standing there trying to show us the solution? It's not until we can learn to step back and look at the big picture that we will be able to move forward in the plan that God has for our lives.

- Lord, give me the strength to look beyond the problem and into the solution that You are showing me. Help me to not get so caught up in the problems of this life that I forget that You have the keys to every single situation that could ever prevent itself. You are the solution and if I will keep my eyes on You, I will never stumble. -

Day 311: John 8:25 - 9:41

The question presented to Jesus at the beginning on chapter 9 is a very interesting one. Not only is it an interesting question, but it's also incredibly characteristic of our generation. So often people in the church waste so much of their time trying to lay the blame on someone or something. They blame sin, or the government or the very members of their own congregation for certain problems and yet they put forth no effort at all towards solving the problems. Generally speaking, there are hundreds or reasons why certain things could have gone wrong, but there are generally only a few solutions. Rather than standing around complaining about how messed up this world is, we need to step up and set our eyes on sharing the solutions. I believe that it is incredibly vital that we show lost people that continuing along their current path will send them to hell, but once we've pointed that out, it's our responsibility to share with them the information necessary to get on the right path. It would be silly to go to a doctor while suffering from a gunshot wound only to have the doctor tell you that you're wounded and then send you on your way. The doctor is not only responsible for informing you of the situation, but also remedying the situation so that you don't die. The point of this passage was not why the man was blind, but the fact that Jesus made his blind eyes see.

- Father, help me to not get caught up in figuring out why things are as bad as they are, but rather help me to keep my focus on fixing them. I know that Your Word can make the blind eyes see and that is what I am called to do. -

Day 310: John 7:1 - 8:24

Although some would initially associate Jesus with peace and happiness, we see in this passage that more often than not, Jesus was in the very center of what most would consider a controversy. Most immature Christians go throughout their lives trying not to step on anybody's toes or upset anybody because they have some sort of twisted, inaccurate "understanding" of how Jesus operates. But once we are able to set aside our preconceived ideas and truly study the Word, we can see that Jesus was not only involved in a great deal of conflict, but He was usually the very reason for the conflict. God did not send us out into the world to make sure that it always stays the same. He sent us out to change the world. God even refers to His Son in Isaiah 8:14 and again in 1 Peter 2:8 as a "Rock of Offense" reminding us that Jesus, and know we, were sent into the world to change it and save it whatever the cost. In all honestly, this entire point, as most in the Bible, can be boiled down to one word - Love. If you truly love someone, you should be willing to risk their own personal comfort in order to save their lives. It's time for the church to rise up and start caring more about this generation burning in hell than they are about how comfortable it is. When we cause controversy and offense as a direct result of our obedience to God's Word, we can take joy in the fact that we are doing our part to carry on the ministry that Jesus started here on earth.

- Father, give me the vision to be more concerned about the eternal state of those around me than I am about making them feel comfortable. I know that following You may cause some awkward situations to arise, but if those awkward situations are what is required in order to help same the souls of this generation, I will be more than happy to endure them. -

Day 309: John 5:26 - 6:71

The last part of chapter 5 is such a vivid picture of today's "Christian" society. They spend so much of their lives trying to develop new theologies and new "Biblical" concepts that they ignore the point of the entire Bible. The Bible was not simply a book written for us so that we might come up with new ideas and opportunities to fight with each other. God blessed us with His Word so that we would take it out into the world and preach it to every living creature. It seems to me that there are two general attitudes towards God's Word. The first is one of over-the-top religion in which nobody is brave enough to take the Gospel into the world because, after all, there's sin out there and if we get close to it, it might rub off on us and send us straight to hell. The other attitude is one of complete irresponsibility. Christians with this attitude live their lives using "grace" as an excuse to live like the world and chalk it all up to making people in the world feel comfortable so they're more likely to listen to what we have to say. What Jesus is saying in the last part of chapter 5 is that people waste way too much of their lives focusing on themselves and their own ideas of what true Christianity is when they don't even realize that it's that very attitude of selfish pride that will end up sending them to hell along with everyone that they failed to minister to. True Christianity and Godliness is not about what I can get out of it, it's about giving every single piece of ourselves away, and in doing so, we will find ourselves closer to God than we could've ever imagined possible.

- Father, help me to follow Your Word more closely not simply by reading it and studying it, but by living it every single day. Help me to not miss out on what You're saying to me because I'm to focussed on myself and my own agenda. Our agendas mean nothing without You. Give me the passion required to go out into the world and be a light that will guide each and every person I meet closer to You. -

My Apologies

Although I've accepted the fact that very few people (if any) kept up with my blog, I feel that it is necessary for me to write an apology for not finishing what I started well over a year ago. My original plan was to read the entire Bible over the course of a year and blog each day about what I read. I realize that this goal sounds unusually similar to a movie that recently came out, but I promise I thought of this long before the movie, haha. I am proud to say that I was able to finish my reading in one year, but sadly, I was unable to finish writing out this blog and sharing what God had spoken to me throughout my journey in His Word. I may not be able to go back in time and start back over in July, but I can pick up where I left off and finish what I started. If you haven't read my blog before, I strongly encourage you to check it out - not so that I might receive some sort of glory or recognition for saying something deep or clever, but so that God might be glorified in the words that I type and so that He might speak to your heart. I pray that God will revive a passion within my heart and yours to dig deeper into His Word and find out what He is saying to us each and every day. Thank you for reading and I pray that you will continue on this journey with me until the end.

-Ryan

Day 308: John 4:1 - 5:25

In so many places throughout the Gospels, we see the Pharisees and the religious leaders of the day confronting Jesus regarding certain "rules" that Jesus had broken. Interestingly enough, it seems that every time they present Jesus with a rule that He had broken He managed to bring up some sort of example where they broke the exact same rule because it was more convenient to them. This is such a perfect picture of the way religion works. Religion sits and makes rules to keep people from doing certain things and yet there are always loop-holes for those who made the rules. If what you're doing is inconvenient, or offensive, or somehow irritating to me, I can find some way to accuse you of breaking a religious rule, but if I do the same thing I can always justify it by my intentions. Religion is always finding ways to justify the wrong that has been committed, but grace came down not so that the sins could somehow be justified but so that the ones committing those sins would be justified. And when we are justified, we no longer spend our time trying to figure out how we can get away with breaking certain rules, but we end up looking for new ways to live righteously so we can glorify our Father in Heaven!

- Lord, thank You for justifying me so that I can live a life in which the focus has nothing to do with rules and regulations but is all about You and making You happy. I live to serve You and through Your grace, I have both the strength and the determination to do it! -