logos|devo
five days in the word|logos
by david
drury
authentic|logos
monday
From the Song “This is Your
Life” by Switchfoot
yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead
yesterday is a promise that you've broken
don't close your eyes, don't close your eyes
this is your life and today is all you've got now
yeah, and today is all you'll ever have
don't close your eyes
this is your life, are you who you want to be
this is your life, is it everything you
dreamed that it would be
when the world was younger and you had everything to lose
yesterday is a kid in the corner
yesterday is dead and over
this is your life are you who you want to be
this is your life, is it everything you dreamed it would be
when the world was younger and you had everything to lose
and you had everything to lose
The book of John in
the Bible starts out talking about “The Word.”
What, or who, is the Word? Well, for
starters, that word: “Word” is really more of a concept than a word. In the days this book was written there was a
popular concept called “Logos.” This
concept was a sort of cultural idea that behind everything that existed there
was this “Logos” – the “Word” that made it matter. It came from the Greeks and since the book
was written to people influenced by it the writer takes time to start
there—starting where people were coming from.
The book of John says that in
the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God (NLT). So
this Word, John is telling us, is Jesus Christ.
He existed at the beginning of everything. He was not only with God, but in fact he was
God. The Word is God. The Word is Jesus. Logos = Jesus. He is the real deal. He is God.
As many have said, He is fully divine.
He was authentically God and all the rest of the book of John is the
evidence that supports that crazy and key claim.
But at the same
time, John tells us that the Word became
human…. This Logos,
became authentically human. Your Bible
might say, “made flesh.” He had flesh and bones just like you and
me. The Bible even says he was tempted
in every way just like you and me. But
John goes on to say that He was full of
unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the
only Son of the Father.
So, are you
authentic? No one really knows but you. You can look at the inside tag on someone’s
shirt and find out if the shirt is an authentic Aeropastale™
or Tommy Hilfiger™ shirt. But people
don’t come with authenticity labels. You
don’t have a brand name that tells me who you really are. There are hints. But only you can see your own tag.
In working through
this logos|devo stare the authentic Jesus|logos in the eyes.
And be yourself. Be
authentic. Be real. Jesus is authentic for you. Who are you authentic for?
thinking|talking
about it
What comments or
thoughts do you have about the Switchfoot song “This
is Your Life”?
Who is The Word (Logos)?
Who do you think
you’ve been most authentic with in the past?
What helps you
become more authentic with others?
What might you want
to be more real about this week? (write below for your
eyes only for now)
Verse of the day:
In the beginning the Word
already existed. He was with God, and he was God.
-John 1:1
christ|logos
tuesday
From the Song “On Fire” by Switchfoot
Tell you where you need to go
Tell you when you'll need to leave
Tell you what you need to know
Tell you who you need to be
But everything inside you knows
Says more than what you've heard
So much more than empty conversations
Filled with empty words
And you're on fire
When He's near you
You're on fire
When He speaks
You're on fire
Burning at these mysteries
Give me one more time around
Give me one more chance to see
Give me everything You are
Give me one more chance to be... (near You)
Cause everything inside looks like
Everything I hate
You are the hope I have for change
You are the only chance I'll take
When I'm on fire
When You're near me
I'm on fire
When You speak
And I'm on fire
Burning at these mysteries
these mysteries...
The book of John
tells us that the Word [Jesus Christ] became
human and lived here on earth among us. Some
of our translations say “made his dwelling with us.” Jesus was “at home” with us. The 12 disciples spent day after day with
Jesus. In today’s language, the writer
of John might have just said, “Jesus hung out in our crib.”
Why is this
important? For that matter, why is Jesus
important at all to us today? There are
many reasons, but this passage gives us one of the most exciting ones. You see, this Word, the Son of God, the fully
human, fully divine Jesus Christ: He did life with people just like us. He made new friends. He developed new followers. He just hung out with people. The God of the universe—who could do whatever
He willed— thought it was a good use of his time to spend it with people.
Can you imagine
Jesus spending time in your home?
Imagine him knocking on your door.
Revelation
thinking|talking
about it
How “On Fire” are you about Jesus Christ?
What do you think
it would be like to hang out with Jesus?
What would you want
to ask Jesus if you could ask him just one question and you knew he would
answer it?
If you’re being
100% honest, mark on this line how much of your spiritual “house” you’ve shown
to and turned over to Jesus (for your eyes only for now):
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
Doorstep Living room Kitchen 2nd
Floor Attic Gave over keys
What realistic
level on that line do you hope to be at by the end of this week? If you want to use your own words that are
different than these go ahead.
Then
share this with some of your friends or with a leader in the next few hours.
Verse of the day:
So the Word became human and
lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.
And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.
-John
1:14
creation|logos
wednesday
From the Song “Dare You To Move” by Switchfoot
Welcome to the planet
Welcome to existence
Everyone's here
Everyone's here
Everybody's watching you now
Everybody waits for you now
What happens next
What happens next
I dare you to move – I dare you to
move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move – I dare you to move
Like today never happened… Today never happened before
Welcome to the fallout
Welcome to resistance
The tension is here… Tension is here
Between who you are and who you could be
Between how it is and how it should be
Maybe redemption has stories to tell
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
Where you gonna go – Where you gonna
go?
Salvation is here
In the beginning… Jesus was
there. As it says in John 1, in the beginning the Word already existed.
He was with God, and he was God. He was in the beginning with God. Jesus was an active part in Creation. In fact, you’ll notice if you look at chapter
1 of Genesis that whenever God creates something he “speaks” and then it
is. The Word (Logos = Jesus) is the way
God creates.
In the beginning…
God had a plan. In Genesis
In the beginning…
You were meant for life. John continues
by saying, He created everything there
is. Nothing exists that he didn't make.
So you were made by Him. Nothing
exists, including you, that he didn’t make. And his plan was not only for you to have
life… but to have a new life.
thinking|talking
about it
What comments or
thoughts do you have about the Switchfoot song “Dare
You To Move”?
Circle any of the
words below that help describe how you feel to know you were made in the image
of God?
confused happy thoughtful appreciative questioning overjoyed
whatever explain
more that’s nice wow really? ok-fine
how? why? me? what now? so what amazed
yes! thinking understand I get it no
way overwhelmed
_______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______
What questions do
you have about the Father, Son & Holy Spirit (the Trinity)?
Do you feel like
God has a plan for you?
What are some
things that might be a part of God’s plan for you? What are your hopes and dreams?
Verse of the day:
He created everything there
is. Nothing exists that he didn't make.
-John 1:3
faith|logos
thursday
From the Song “Meant to Live”
by Switchfoot
Fumbling his confidence
And wondering why the world has passed him by
Hoping that he's bid for more than arguments
And failed attempts to fly, fly
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside—Somewhere we live inside
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside
Dreaming about Providence
And whether mice or men have second tries
Maybe we've been livin with our eyes half open
Maybe we're bent and broken, broken
We want more than this world's got to offer
We want more than this world's got to offer
We want more than the wars of our fathers
And everything inside screams for second life, yeah
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
We were meant to live for so much more
It takes faith… to
believe in his name. John 1 says of
Jesus (Logos) that to all who believed
him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. A lot of people make the comment that “We are
all Children of God.” Actually, we’re
not. The Jewish people were the Children
of God. So those of us who are not Jews are not the
children of God—unless we believe in His name and accept Jesus as our
savior. This step takes faith. For those of us living today that haven’t
seen Jesus physically it takes even more faith than the disciples had. And when we accept Jesus we’re given the
right to life—eternal life!
It takes faith… to be
reborn. And then when we are given the
right a funny thing happens. We are born
again. John 1 continues saying, that
those who believe him and accept him “are
reborn! This is not a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan –
this rebirth comes from God.” God
enables us to be born-again. People say
that phrase a lot to describe Christians: “Born-Again.” But Christians didn’t make up that idea. Jesus himself did. Two chapters later in John 3 we have recorded
Jesus’ conversation with an old Jewish Teacher named Nicodemus. Jesus said spoke to him the famous words, "I assure you, unless you are born
again, you can
never see the
It takes faith… to
see what isn’t visible. Faith means
believing without seeing. Hebrews 11
asks a great question and then answers it for us: What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is
going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see. That’s the great joy of faith. It’s being sure of something that is just a
hope. It is feeling the evidence of
things we’re blind to. It’s the great
oxymoron of life. But John 1 continues
on saying, No one has ever seen God. But
his only Son, who is himself God, is near to the Father's heart; he has told us
about him. So we have faith in this
unseen God because of what Jesus his son, the Logos, has told us. This takes faith. It’s the leap of faith we’ve either already
taken, and can look back on the jump. Or
it’s the leap of faith we’re at right now—looking at the jump ahead of us. If that’s you, come on over! Trust us: you’ll be sure of the evidence once
you make the leap.
thinking|talking
about it
What comments or
thoughts do you have about the Switchfoot song “Meant
to Live”?
What questions do
you have about Faith?
In what area of
your life do you need more faith?
Would you describe
yourself as “born-again”? If not do you
have another word for it that is better than what Jesus said?
Verse of the day:
But to all who believed him
and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.
-John 1:12
light|logos
friday
From the Song “Adding to the
Noise” by Switchfoot
What's it gonna
take
to slow us down
to let the silence spin us around?
What's it gonna take
to drop this town?
We've been spinning at the speed of sound.
Stepping out of those convenience stores
what could we want but more more
more?
From the third world
to the corporate core
we are a symphony of modern humanity
If we're adding to the noise
turn off this song
If we're adding to the noise
turn off your stereo, stereo, stereo
I don’t know
what they're gonna think of next
genetic engineers of the most high tech
A couple new ways
to fall into debt
I'm a nervous wreck but I'll bet
that that T.V. set
tells us what we've wanted to hear
But none of these sound bites
are coming in clear
From the third world to the corporate ear
we are the symphony of modern humanity.
The book of John
begins to describe Jesus in terms beyond “Logos.” In looking for words that best represent what
Jesus is John poetically refers to him here as the Light: Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone. The light shines through the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it. This connection between light and life is a
pretty straightforward one. Life cannot
exist where there is not light. Plants
cannot exist without light. Nothing
grows without light. Humans cannot
operate without light which provide sight.
Out planet would be a cold ball of rock without light. John says that Jesus provides similar
spiritual life to everyone. And that last word is important. Jesus is the true light for everyone. Not just this or that group of people. Not just you or me. Everyone!
This is why it is
our job to pass on the light. The book
goes on to talk about Jesus’ cousin John who was a prophet. He says that, God sent John the Baptist to tell everyone about the light so that
everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was
only a witness to the light. The one who
is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was going to come into the
world. We, like John, must be about
passing on this “testimony.” We often
want to draw attention to ourselves—to get credit for ourselves for any little
thing we do. A follower of Christ, like
John the Baptist, knows they are not the light, but are only witnesses to the
Light that is Jesus Christ.
But sometimes
people don’t take us for our word. We
can be “witnesses” and not find ears to hear us. This even happened to Jesus, through whom the
people he came to save were created through, when he spoke to people. John says that although the world was made through him, the world didn't recognize
him when he came. Even in his own land
and among his own people, he was not accepted. Sometimes being a witness can feel this
way. In our own family, in our own
neighborhood, in our own school, in our own country we feel unaccepted. But that’s okay. We’re still accepted by God as his Children
of Faith and our job is not to see people accept Christ – but just simply point
the way for people. Like John the
Baptist, who pointed him out to the people. He shouted to the crowds, "This is the one I
was talking about when I said, 'Someone is coming who
is far greater than I am, for he existed long before I did.'" So it doesn’t depend on how great you are or
how much experience you have. Isn’t that
reassuring? It’s not all up to you. It’s up to Jesus—the Logos. Like John’s opening to the book says, God's unfailing love
and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ.
thinking|talking
about it
What are the
qualities of Light that are similar to the qualities of Jesus?
Who do you know
“back home” that you need to tell about your relationship with Jesus?
What kinds of
people do you sometimes not want to witness to?
Flipping through
this logos|devo, what are the Bible passages (always
found in italics) that you found most important to you?
Read through the
full John 1:1-18 passage on the next pages before you’re through with this devo.
Verse of the day:
Life itself was in him, and
this life gives light to everyone.
The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never
extinguish it.
-John 1:4-5
Full John 1:1-18
Passage
New Living Translation
1 In
the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. 2 He was in the beginning
with God. 3 He
created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn't make. 4 Life itself was in him,
and this life gives light to everyone.
5 The
light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. 6 God sent John the Baptist 7 to tell everyone about the
light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8 John himself was not the
light; he was only a witness to the light. 9 The one who is the true light, who gives light to
everyone, was going to come into the world. 10 But although the world was
made through him, the world didn't recognize him when he came. 11 Even in his own land and
among his own people, he was not accepted. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he
gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn! This is not a physical birth
resulting from human passion or plan – this rebirth comes from God. 14 So the Word became human
and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.
And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.
15 John
pointed him out to the people. He shouted to the crowds, "This is the one
I was talking about when I said, 'Someone is coming
who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before I did.'" 16 We have all benefited
from the rich blessings he brought to us – one gracious blessing after another.
17 For the law was
given through Moses; God's unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus
Christ. 18 No one
has ever seen God. But his only Son, who is himself God, is near to the
Father's heart; he has told us about him.
© 2005 by David Drury