Below are the devotions from the 3 Days and 3 Nights Journals.   

Welcome and Introduction by Dave Johnson

“There are so many other things Jesus did. If they were all written down, each of them, one by one, I can’t imagine a world big enough to hold such a library of books.”
(John 21:25 MESSAGE)

When I hear the term “great men of history” many names and heroes come to mind.  Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, General Patton, Isaac Newton, Beethoven, Ghengis Khan, Wright Brothers, Aristotle, Moses, Martin Luther, George Washington, Columbus, etc. The list goes on and on of people who have persevered under hardships, laid the foundations of society, and have sacrificed their lives for others.  They are soldiers who didn’t show their fear, great minds who shared their intellect and ideas, Politicians who were public servants rather than servants of self.  They were conquerers who merged societies, artists who shared the beauty of their creations, and pioneers that were willing to step past the boundaries.  All of these men have contributed and impacted our present lives more than we can fathom.  There is one however who is greater still.  The one who does not fit among the names of men, Jesus the Christ.  Without Him history would not exist.  Without Him there is no future.  Not only is He the creator of all things but He is also “the lover of my soul”.  He came to set the captives free, to heal the sick, to restore the alienated, and to give us life abundantly.

Over the next three days you will have time set aside to seek Jesus and to study His character.  You will have a chance to have intimacy with Jesus.  I pray that these times in God’s word will bless you as you seek Him.

Journal Entry #1 by Dave Johnson

“Jesus said, “Today is salvation day in this home! Here he is: Zacchaeus, son of Abraham! For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost.””

(Luke 19:9-10 MESSAGE)

When I think of the term “lost” so many different connotations come to mind.  I lost my house key.  I lost my homework.  Or I lost my favorite ___ (fill in the blank).  The crazy thing about the word “lost” is that our reaction is so different depending on the object used with the word.  For instance the Angels lost the game or they lost the championship game.  Other contexts that up the stakes are; I lost my child in the store or someone lost a loved one.  All of these situations have very different value as to what’s being lost, the word however means the same “to be deprived of or cease to retain something”.  In the end it is not the definition of the word that gives it its meaning but the value of the object and what someone is willing to do to get back that which is lost.

That makes me think about us, the human race.  The Bible says that we are lost!  Not in the sense that we accidentally took a wrong turn but that we knowingly chose the wrong path.  Isaiah 53:6 says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way…”  We have rejected the safety of the sheep pin.  We ran away from the protection of the shepherd.  We decided to place ourselves among the wolves!

What great value God puts on us, “the lost”.  Willing to sacrifice His one an only son on a cross for you and me. Isaiah 53:5 says, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”  We individually have been given a priceless value.  No matter how worthless you may feel or how unimportant you think your life is, the Bible says it has great value!

Before you start pray and ask for God to give you understanding.

Read John 4:4-26

1. Why do you think Jesus had to go through Samaria?

2. Why was the woman surprised when Jesus asked her for a drink?

3. Do you think this woman had a lot of emotional pain in her life?  Why?

4. How did Jesus treat her?

Read John 4:28

5. Do you think her life was changed?  Why?

6. What can you tell me about Jesus from this story?

Read Luke 15:4-10

7. What does this passage say about how God feels in regards to the lost?

Journal #2 by Dave Johnson

““I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death.  Where, O death, are your plagues?  Where, O grave, is your destruction?”
(Hosea 13:14 NIV)

In 790 A.D. a terrifying scourge of barbarians descended upon Europe.  This terrible band of marauders were known as the Vikings.  They would come into villages pillaging, raping, and murdering.  Those that survived were enslaved and used in any capacity needed.  They had no rules in regards to who they would murder and they found glory in their conquests.  It must have been a terrible fear to live under!

I think we can all understand the fear of death.  It’s just something we don’t like to think about too much.  The Bible tells us that Jesus gave His life for ours and rose from the dead so that we would no longer be held captive by death.  Instead we can have life!  in this devotion you are going to read about a man who is held captive.  There is no peace in his life only torment.  Jesus met Him where he was, but refused to leave him as He found him.

By the way not many people don’t realize who finally conquered the Vikings.  It was Jesus Christ.  That’s right, they gave up their murderous lifestyles and became Christians.  Amazing what light can do in the darkness.

Pray and ask God to give you understanding to His word.

Read Mark 5:1-20

1. How did the people of the area treat this man?

2. How did Jesus treat this man?

3. How do you think he became possessed by so many demons?

4. How would the demons torment the man?

5. How did the people of the area respond to Jesus setting this man free?

6. Why do think they responded this way?

7. What was the response of the man who had been set free?

8. What can you tell me about Jesus from this story?

Read John 3:16-17

9. What was the Jesus’ purpose?

Take some time and talk with God.

Journal #3 by Dave Johnson

“You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.”
(Psalm 32:7 NIV)

One of my favorite old western movies is the Magnificent Seven.  The story is about a town of poor farmers who are being harassed by a gang of Mexican bandits.  They are unable to defend themselves so they try to hire a group of gunmen to protect their town.  There’s only one problem they don’t have any money.  Through a turn of events they end up finding seven gunmen who are willing to risk their lives and take on an entire gang.

I love stories about those who are willing to stand up for the weak.  That is one of the things I love about Jesus.  Jesus always stood up for the outcasts and the ones that religiosity was willing to discard because they didn’t fit.  Jesus touched the lepers, fed the hungry, loved the poor, and cared for the sick.  He set the example of a defender of the weak and the down and out.

Pray before you begin and ask God to give you understanding as you read His word.

Read John 8:2-11

1.  Describe how you would feel if you were in the place of the woman?

2.  How did the “teachers of the law and the Pharisees” treat the woman?

3.  Why do you think they treated her this way?

4.  How did Jesus treat her?

5.  Was Jesus okay with her sin?  What did he tell her to do?

Read Mark 9:20-27

6.  What did Jesus do for the boy?

7.  What can you tell me about Jesus from these two passages?

Take some time and talk with God.

Journal #4 by Dave Johnson

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
(James 1:27 NIV)

One of the complaints that I hear most often about the church is that it’s full of hypocrites.  To a certain extent I would agree.  The church is full of sinners trying to live holy.  However, I think most people are complaining about churches where the leadership abuses their position or takes advantage of others.  It wasn’t much different in Jesus’s day.  The religious leadership would regularly abuse their power for their own gain.  Jesus said this to the religious hypocrites of the day, ““Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” (Matt 23:27-28 NIV).

Throughout history people have tried to justify their evil actions in the name of religion the crusades, the inquisition, genocide, terrorism, etc.  Jesus did not only come to seek the lost, to heal the sick, to set the captives free, but He also came to clean up religion.  He never abolished it like some say but rather he showed us that it is to be honoring to God.  It is to reflect His holiness, to show His grace, and to proclaim His salvation.

Read John 2:13-22

1.  Why do you think Jesus was so angry?

2.  Do you think He was right in His anger?

Read Matthew 21:12-17

3.  Why do think Jesus cleared the temple twice?

4.  What was the response of the chief priests and the teachers of the law to Jesus’ actions?

5.  Do you think it is important how Christians act in the world?  Why?

6.  How important is it for us to be reverent toward God?  Why?

7.  What can you tell me about Jesus from these two passages?

Take some time and talk with God.
Journal #5 by Dave Johnson

“Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see!”
(Isaiah 42:18 NIV)

On May 25th, 2001 Erik Weihenmayer reached the summit Mt. Everest the world’s tallest mountain becoming one of the youngest climbers to have reached the summit of the world’s seven highest mountain peaks.  The Everest peak being the tallest at 29,035 feet above sea level.

Those who decide to summit Everest start by heading to Base Camp on the southeast ridge.  They stay at Base Camp (17,700 ft) acclimatizing to the thin air for two weeks.  Once their acclimatization period is over they begin their ascent.  The first section is called the Khumbu IceFall.  This is one of the most dangerous sections of shifting ice blocks and crevasses.  Many have died in this first section.  Once they have made it through the icefall they will have reached Camp 1 at (19,900 ft).  From Camp 1 climbers will continue to the base of the Lhotse face where they will make Camp 2 at (21,300 ft).  The next day climbers will ascend the Lhotse face on fixed ropes to Camp 3 located on a small ledge at 24,500 ft.  From camp 3 climbers will continue on fixed ropes to Camp 4 at 26,000 ft.  Upon reaching Camp 4 they have entered into the dead zone.  Climbers can remain at this altitude for two to three days max before dying.

From Camp 4 climbers will usually start their summit push around midnight.  They will have hoped to reach the summit within 10-12 hours and then make their return.  Climbers will first reach the Balcony moving upward to the steps.  In the steps they will move through waist deep snow risking avalanche.  Once they make it past the steps they will move along the knife-edge southeast ridge.  One step wrong to the left the climber would fall 8,000 ft.  One step wrong to the right and the climber would fall 10,000 ft.  Once across the southeast ridge they will need to ascend a 40 ft rock wall called the Hillary Step.  Don’t forget they are carrying their climbing gear and using supplemental oxygen the whole way.  The last obstacle to the top of the world is a very loose rock area they will have to carefully navigate.  Once on the summit they will have no more than thirty minutes before needing to turn around.

So what makes Erik Weihenmayer so special?  He is blind!  I can’t imagine climbing one mountain with my eyesight let alone seven without.  Can you imagine what it would be like to be blind?

Pray before you begin and ask God to give you understanding as you read His word.

Read John 9:1-39
1.  What was the reason for this man being born blind?  Explain?

2.  What response did people have towards this blind man?

3.  How did this miracle change the blind man’s life?

4.  What purpose did Jesus state that He has John 9:39?  What dod you think He meant?

5.  What can you tell me about the character of Jesus from this passage?

Take some time and talk with God.

Journal #6 by Daniel Adrian

Have you ever been paralyzed? Most of us have never experienced physical paralysis but we have (if we’re honest with ourselves) can think of times when we’ve been paralyzed by fear or some other overwhelming emotion. We have all faced situations where we have “frozen”. That frozen feeling of not knowing what to do and being unable to react to the events unfolding in front of us is definitely a form of paralysis. Now think about not being able to escape that helpless feeling no matter what you did. This is just a small taste of what that dear paralytic man lived with every single day, only instead of just a feeling he was literally incapable of physical movement.

When we experience the frozen feelings just mentioned we can comfort ourselves with the knowledge that it is a temporary condition. The paralytic man in your readings for this entry had no such source of comfort. Many commentators have speculated that by this time the paralytic man had lost all hope and that his friends brought him to Jesus as a last ditch effort to save him from the despair he had plunged into.

Remember that disabled people were not treated well by society in the days of Jesus. If they didn’t have rich families who could afford to care for them then they had to resort to begging just to survive. It’s likely that many of the people that the paralytic man came in contact with believed his illness was caused by some sort of curse he or his family had brought on him through their wrongdoing. The added burden of being blamed for my own paralysis would have been too much for me to bear. Praise God that we have a Savior who loves us so much that He not only redeems us from our sins, He delivers us from our physical infirmities as well.

Pray before you begin and ask God to give you understanding as you read His word.

Read Mark 2:1-12

1. How is the healing of the paralytic like the renewal we experience when we come to Christ?

2. What can the faith of the paralytic’s friends teach you about your walk with God?

3. What has Jesus healed you from?

4. Why is it more important that you be forgiven of your sins than you be healed of physical afflictions/illnesses?

Read Luke 5:17-20

5. What can we discover about Christ’s character when we see that He healed the paralytic in front of a crowd of Pharisees and teachers of the law?

6. What can we learn from the paralytic?

7. Why did Jesus heal the sick during His time of ministry here on Earth?

Reflect on all that Jesus has delivered you from and healed you of.