August
AUGUST 1
“The Only Son”
Read John 1:18
No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.
John 1:18
In the words of Jesus, we know precisely what God says. In the actions of Jesus, we know accurately what God does. Jesus has taken all the guesswork out of thinking about and responding to God. What does God look like?
Prayer: God Almighty, whose ways are “past finding out,” thank you for your plain speech in a language I can understand, and your forthright actions in forms to which I can respond, in Jesus. Amen.
AUGUST 2
“I Am the Voice…”
Read John 1:19-23
Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said,
“I am the voice of one crying out in the
wilderness, ‘Make straight die way of the Lord.’”…
John 1:22-23
John attracted much attention and was prominent in the public eye. He could have used the attention and popularity to build himself a following. It didn’t even occur to him: he had only one aim— to announce Jesus as the Christ. What Isaiah passage does John cite?
Prayer: When people pay attention to me, Lord, I am very apt to be flattered, pleased, and self-satisfied. Give me, instead, the grace to quickly refer all such interest to your love and grace and will in Jesus Christ. Amen.
AUGUST 3
“Why Are You Baptizing?”
Read John 1:24-28
John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.”
John 1:26-27
John’s baptizing ministry fixed attention on our deepest need (sin) and God’s greatest promise (forgiveness). But even while he did it, he made it clear that baptism was only sign-language— soon they would see and hear the actual words and authentic actions to which his ministry was mere prelude.
Why the reference to Elijah in the questions?
Prayer: Don’t let me ever, Lord Jesus Christ, get so interested in what others do in your name that I miss seeing your very presence; never so caught up in questions and answers that I fail to hear you speak to me personally. Amen.
AUGUST 4
“Here Is the Lamb of God”
Read John 1:29-31
“Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ ”
John 1:29-30
The lamb was the animal most connected in Israel’s mind with forgiveness. Its use in sacrificial worship demonstrated that God had a way of dealing with sin and guilt. When John identified Jesus as God’s lamb, it meant that the great drama of forgiveness was about to lake place before their eyes in him.
Compare this with Isaiah 53:7.
Prayer: “When to the cross I turn my eyes, and rest on Calvary, O Lamb of God, my Sacrifice, I must remember Thee; remember Thee, and all Thy pains, and all Thy love to me: yea, while a breath, a pulse remains will I remember Thee” 0ames Montgomery, The Hymnbook, 373). Amen.
AUGUST 5
“Like a Dove”
Read John 1:32-34
“I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’”
John 1:33
The descent of the dove was a sign that the Spirit of God dwelt in Jesus—the very life of God the Father was also the very life of God the Son. John’s witness of the sign authenticated Jesus’ identity as Messiah.
What are the characteristics of a dove?
Prayer: “Spirit of God, descend upon my heart; wean it from earth; through all its pulses move; stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou art, and make me love Thee as I ought to love” (G. Croly, “Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart,” The Hymnbook, 207). Amen.
AUGUST 6
“Two Disciples”
Read John 1:35-39
The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.
John 1:35-37
The test of John’s integrity came when the time arrived to turn his disciples over to Jesus. He passed the test: he knew he had finished his preparatory work, and so without reluctance turned those he had trained in repentance to follow Jesus in faith. What is a disciple?
Prayer: Help me, Lord Jesus, to be a good witness: quick to recognize your appearance, skilled at directing attention to you, and unhesitating in releasing people in my care to your care. Amen.
AUGUST 7
“He First Found His Brother”
Read John 1:40-42
He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus—-
John 1:41-42
The first impulse of those who are attracted to Jesus is generosity—not to get all we can, exclusively, for ourselves, but to share all we can with others. Andrew’s generosity was evangelism. Whom have you brought to Jesus?
Prayer: I want to be a good witness to you, Lord God, so that none among family or friends or neighbors may lack an invitation into your presence from rudeness or forgetfulness or selfishness on my part. Amen.
AUGUST 8
“Nathanael”
Read John 1:43-51
Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things dian these.” And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
John 1:50-51
Nathanael was an open book to Jesus—as are we all. His surprise at Jesus’ comprehensive knowledge of his background and character led him to an immediate confession of faith. What kind of person was Nathanael?
Prayer: God, your spirit searches the depths in me: discovers sin, whets an appetite for righteousness, prompts obedience, kindles faith. Search me deeply; know me thoroughly, in Jesus. Amen.
AUGUST 9
“A Wedding in Cana”
Read John 2:1-11
Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
John 2:10-11
Prominendy displayed as the first sign of Jesus’ ministry, the miracle at Cana establishes joy at the center of all that Jesus does. Exuberance surrounds all our Lord’s words and work. Salvation is life plus.
What was the result of the sign at Cana?
Prayer: You do this a lot, Lord: just when I think there is nothing that can be done, with life reduced to mere survival and all resources (I think) exhausted, you step in and miraculously restore the joy, better than anything I thought possible. Thank you. Amen.
AUGUST 10
“Capernaum … for a Few Days”
Read John 2:12
After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples; and they remained there a few days.
John 2:12
Jesus’ work was not always in public, out where people could see it. There were also quiet interludes of retirement and rest. The quiet asides are as characteristic of his ministry as the glorious signs.
Where is Capernaum?
Prayer: In this moment of quiet prayer, Father, so center my heart in your will and grace that all my actions and words today may flow from you as a cool stream from its subterranean source. Amen.
AUGUST 11
“Zed for Your House”
Read John 2:13-17
He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
John 2:16-17
Religion is easily and commonly commercialized. Each church needs repeated and vigorous temple-cleansings to restore it to its proper function as a center for prayer.
Where does the “zeal for Thy house” quotation come from?
Prayer: Lord God of hosts, invade our cluttered churches, clogged with religious baggage, and do a good housecleaning among us so that there is room for the one thing needful, for prayer. Amen.
AUGUST 12
“The Temple of His Body”
Read John 2:18-22
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” … After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
John 2:19,22
The body of Jesus took over the functions of the Jerusalem temple, centering attention on God’s presence among his people, providing a focus for sacrifice and adoration, and best of all, showing forth the resurrection. Compare this with 1 Corinthians 6:19.
Prayer: Just as your body, Lord Jesus, was a temple, make mine also a temple—a place where your spirit dwells, a place to glorify God, a place for crucifixion and resurrection. Amen.
AUGUST 13
“He Knew All People”
Read John 2:23-25
… Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone.
John 2:24-25
Jesus did not plot his course on die basis of popular opinion polls. The response of the crowds played no part in guiding his ministry. God provided the compass points for his journey.
At what season of the year does Passover come?
Prayer: All the things that, in my naivete, seem so important to me—acclaim, enthusiasm, success, acceptance—are on the periphery of your ministry, Lord Jesus. You march to a different drummer. Give me ears to hear that drum beat, too. Amen.
AUGUST 14
“Bom Anew”
Read John 3:1-7
Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’”
John 3:5-7
Birth is a sudden and violent transition from the womb to the world, from darkness to light— an explosion into humanity (the world of the “flesh”). New birth is the same transition into the reality of God.
Have you been born anew?
Prayer: Spirit of God, breathe through my existence and bring new life to every part of it: open my eyes to the light of salvation, make me conversant with the truth of faith; guide me in the growth of holiness, in Jesus Christ. Amen.
AUGUST 15
“The Wind Blows Where It Chooses”
Read John 3:8
“The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
John 3:8
“Wind” and “spirit” are the same word in Greek. Neither is visible, but what they produce is visible. Will we believe that which we cannot see? We do it all the time with the wind; why don’t we do it with the Spirit?
What do you know about the Spirit?
Prayer: I look to you, O God, whom I do not see, to renew all that I do see. Even while I am immersed in the world of the senses, I put my trust in the world of the Spirit, where all strength, love and redemption originate. Amen.
AUGUST 16
“How Can These Things Be?”
Read John 3:9-15
“If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.”
John 3:12-13
There is much that we can understand about God’s ways, but also much that we cannot. God’s ways do not contradict our reason, but they do exceed our reason. The revelation that Christ (“he whom descended”) brings to us puts all the bits and pieces of our knowledge into a complete truth.
How does the reference to Moses help?
Prayer: My questions and all knowledge barely make a dent in what I need to know, O Christ: tell me all I need to know; show me what I need to do: complete my understanding with your revelation. Amen.
AUGUST 17
“God So Loved the World”
Read John 3:16
“For God so loved the world tiiat he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
John 3:16
The verse is deservedly famous: from it we learn God’s attitude toward us (love), his action among us (he gave his Son), and his purpose for us (eternal life). Everything we need to know about God —and all of it is good.
When did you first learn this verse?
Prayer: “Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heaven, to earth come down, fix in us Thy humble dwelling, all Thy faithful mercies crown! Jesus, Thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love Thou art; visit us with Thy salvation, enter every trembling heart” (Charles Wesley, “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,” The Hymnbook, 337). Amen.
AUGUST 18
“This Is the Judgment”
Read John 3:17-21
“And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.”
John 3:19
Judgment is not an arbitrary lashing out from a despotic deity; it is self-inflicted. It follows from the deliberate, conscious choice of darkness over light, of evil instead of good. What is the judgment?
Prayer: Thank you, gracious Father, for relieving me of fears, but not of responsibility, for banishing my anxiety without robbing me of the dignity of decision, in the name of Jesus Christ, my Savior. Amen.
AUGUST 19
“Baptizing at Aenon”
Read John 3:22-24
After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judcan countryside, and he spent some time there with them and baptized. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim because water was abundant there—-
John 3:22-23
The ministries of John and Jesus overlapped at Aenon, an obscure spring along the Jordan, in the magnificent practice of baptism—a sign of turning away from sin in repentance and evidence of turning toward God in faith. Baptism linked the two ministries so that nothing of value in John’s ministry was lost in the full exercise of Jesus’ ministry.
How is baptism an appropriate link?
Prayer: Great God: such great acts of ministry! and in such ordinary, everyday places! Continue to do your great works in the kitchen and family room and bedrooms of my house, and among the neighbors on my street. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
AUGUST 20
“… I Must Decrease”
Read John 3:25-30
“The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.”
John 3:29-30
John, used to being at the center of attention was ready, on signal, to step out of the spotlight into the shadows. All ministry is Christ’s. There can be no competition or rivalry among people who are working God’s will, even when they are working along different lines.
Do you think it was difficult for John to take second place?
Prayer: Dear Jesus, teach me my place: as a servant, not a master, as the friend of the bridegroom, not the bridegroom; as a witness to the truth, not the truth itself. Amen.
AUGUST 21
“He Who Comes from Heaven”
Read John 3:31-36
The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God’s wrath.
John 3:35-36
Jesus is not just a better version of Moses, or David, or Elijah—or John. He is different entirely: “from heaven.” Jesus is not a word about God, but the very word of God. His presence brings us into the fullness of God. In him we have not just a fragment of truth but the whole picture of redemption.
What is the difference between John and Jesus?
Prayer: I receive of your fullness, O God in Christ: increase my capacity to believe, to obey, and to enjoy. I will not be content with hand-me-down truth or secondhand faith. I want it fresh and whole. Amen.
AUGUST 22
“Jacob’s Well”
Read John 4:1-6
So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well.
John 4:5-6
For over seven hundred years, racial hostility existed between Samaritans and Jews. But a thousand years before that, Jacob, a common ancestor, had dug a well from which they both drank. If we go back far enough in history, we find sources of a common heritage.
What time of day was the sixth hour?
Prayer: Lord, plunge us in Jordan’s baptismal stream, dig us a deep Samaritan well, waters to wash the guilt from our land: cleanse us and sing our peace. Amen.
AUGUST 23
“If You Knew the Gift of God”
Read John 4:7-10
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
John 4:10
Jesus begins the conversation by asking for something; he will end it by giving something: his asking is always preparatory to his giving. Our relationship with God changes radically when we realize the “gift” nature of his being: he does not harass us with petty requests but offers us a magnificent gift.
What is the “gift of God”?
Prayer: Deepen my sense of need, dear Christ: enlarge my expectations of your gifts. Help me to see faith not so much as that which I give you, but as that which you give me—even eternal life. Amen.
AUGUST 24
“Give Me This Water”
Read John 4:11-15
Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”
John 4:13-14
Misunderstanding does not always prevent communication; sometimes, as in this case, it is a creative stimulus to pursue complete understanding. Jesus uses the physical as a basis for awakening desire for the spiritual.
Compare with Matthew 5:6.
Prayer: Give me this water, Lord Jesus: satisfy my spirit at the deep well of eternal life, springing up abundandy. Let me drink of it daily and always, and never thirst again. Amen.
AUGUST 25
“Worship in Spirit and Truth”
Read John 4:16-26
“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
John 4:23-24
The conversation intensifies as the discussion moves from getting water out of a well to worshiping God. The woman is led into an awareness of her interior needs and of God’s ultimate fulfillments.
What does this tell you about worship?
Prayer: God, I don’t want to get hung up on questions of the places for worship or the times to worship or the forms of worship: I want to worship, inwardly, ardendy, and truly, and so discover you as the center of my life, in Jesus Christ. Amen.
AUGUST 26
“Ripe for Harvesting”
Read John 4:27-42
“But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’”
John 4:35-37
The description of the Samaritans as a field ripe for harvest must have been a surprise! The usual Jewish view was that they were no more than a vacant lot, filled with rubble. Jesus removed the blinders of prejudice from our eyes so that we can see truly, from his point of view.
Compare this with 1 Corinthians 3:6-9.
Prayer: Forgive me, Lord, for rejecting people whom I suppose are not interested in your love, and for avoiding others whom I think will revile your grace. Where I see a field of weeds you see a field ripe for harvest. Help me to see it your way. Amen.
AUGUST 27
“Your Son Will Live”
Read John 4:43-54
Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my litde boy dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way.
John 4:48-50
The official believed before he saw. He did not require “signs and wonders” as a condition for his trust. He had nothing to sustain him on his trip homeward but the word of Jesus. He believed simply because Jesus spoke.
How far is it from Cana to Capernaum?
Prayer: Jesus, speak the word that will put my faith in motion; then send me back to the sphere of my obedience and raise my expectations for the fulfillment of your promises. Amen.
AUGUST 28
“I Have No One”
Read John 5:1-9
One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”
John 5:5-6
The helpless sick man had been within sight of help throughout his illness. He knew he needed help; he knew help was available; but he couldn’t help himself. Jesus helps those who can’t help themselves. What can’t you do for yourself?
Prayer: “I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew He moved my soul to seek Him, seeking me; it was not I that found, O Savior true; no, I was found of Thee” (Anonymous). Amen.
AUGUST 29
“Equal to God”
Read John 5:10-18
Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.”
John 5:16-17
Far from misunderstanding Jesus, his persecutors understood precisely what was involved: that Jesus, by healing on the Sabbath and calling God his Father, was the very presence of God among them. But they preferred to keep God at a distance. How close do you want God to you?
Prayer: I do this too, Lord: I acknowledge you, but want you to work only within the framework I have constructed; I believe in you, but get uncomfortable when you get involved in my everyday affairs. Forgive me. Amen.
AUGUST 30
“The Son Gives Life”
Read John 5:19-21
“Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show
him greater works than these—-”
John 5:19-20
God the Father and God the son, the God they could not see and the Christ they saw right before them, were, for all practical purposes, the same. The function of the one was to audibly reveal the mind and visibly execute the will of the other. What were the “greater works”?
Prayer-. I offer you my adoration and my obedience, Lord Jesus. By your life I discover redemption; in your words I find direction; through your resurrection I enjoy eternal life. All praise to your great name! Amen.
AUGUST 31
“That All May Honor the Son”
Read John 5:22-24
“The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.”
John 5:22-23
It does no good to say that we honor God if we dishonor him in our actions. God is not a far-off idea that we venerate in pious moments; he is an actual presence that we respond to in the historical now of Jesus Christ. How do you honor God?
Prayer: “Blessing and honor and glory and power, wisdom and riches and strength evermore give ye to Him who our batde hath won, whose are the Kingdom, the crown, and the throne” (H. Bonar, “Blessing and Honor and Glory and Power,” The Hymnbook, 125). Amen.
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