Come and See: A 30-day Devotional of John 1

By Damaris U. Avila

Come and See is an invitation to discover the truth about Jesus while discovering the truth about yourself. As you explore the first chapter of John, you will see how the disciples were called one by one to come and see Jesus. You will discover life's true purpose and where you fit in the pages of this story.

Each day begins with a very personal and raw testimony where life's struggles and joys meet the words of John. You will feel connected and restored by refreshing and vulnerable storytelling. Damaris invites you into her faith story as you are drawn into the heart of the Bible and the words of the apostle John--words of truth and love.

Damaris opens up about identity, love, addiction, anger, and fear, and the very real and powerful transformation that occurs when it meets God's love and redeeming power through his relentless pursuit of us.

You have a unique opportunity to read the Bible like never before; you will walk away with a new outlook on life and perception of yourself. Be curious enough to dive into this thirty-day journey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Release date: Mar 27, 2019
• ISBN: 9781532643965

Damaris U. Avila

Damaris U. Avila lives in sunny California with her loving husband and their two inquisitive and sweet girls. Through personal storytelling, she invites women to share and see themselves in God's story. She leads young girls through BeYOUtiful Girl Time, a sisterhood where girls are encouraged to become the women God designed them to be. You can visit her on her website: www.damarisavila.com or on Instagram at: damarisuavila.

Book preview

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Come and See

A 30-day Devotional of John 1

Damaris U. Avila

11556.png

Come and See

A

30

-day Devotional of John

1

Copyright ©

2019

Damaris U. Avila. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers,

199

W.

8

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, Eugene, OR

97401

.

Resource Publications

An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

199

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8

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Eugene, OR

97401

www.wipfandstock.com

paperback isbn: 978-1-5326-4394-1

hardcover isbn: 978-1-5326-4395-8

ebook isbn: 978-1-5326-4396-5

Manufactured in the U.S.A.

June 6, 2019

Table of Contents

Title Page

Permissions

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1: I Now Know Who I Am Because of I AM

Chapter 2: When His Light Gives You Life, Your Life Gives Others Light

Chapter 3: He Pursued Me Even into Darkness

Chapter 4: Christ with Me, Christ before Me, Christ behind Me, Christ in Me

Chapter 5: Eyes to See, Ears to Hear, Hearts to Surrender

Chapter 6: Your Present Reality and Your Future Eternity

Chapter 7: He Made His Dwelling among Us

Chapter 8: We have Gained the Riches of His Glory

Chapter 9: Jesus is Always the Good News

Chapter 10: Am I willing to give all that I have to Him?

Chapter 11: His Grace and Truth are far Superior

Chapter 12: His Love so Profound

Chapter 13: Praise Him that our Ever-changing world will Never Change Him

Chapter 14: Let Him enter Your Wilderness

Chapter 15: When You’re so Focused on Doing Right, You Lose Sight

Chapter 16: May the Attention we Once Enjoyed from Others Pale in Comparison

Chapter 17: May He Take You from the Known and Comfortable to the Unknown

Chapter 18: May My Life Reflect Jesus

Chapter 19: May the Bravest Pursuit of Your Life be the Pursuing of the One

Chapter 20: The Will of God will not take us where the grace of God cannot sustain us

Chapter 21: There is No Better Time than the Present

Chapter 22: Listen and Follow . . . Find, Tell, Bring . . .

Chapter 23: He Sees Me, Even When I Feel No One Else Does

Chapter 24: When We Make Inaccurate Assumptions about Jesus

Chapter 25: In Him is the Only Gold Mine

Chapter 26: May Love be the Lasting Impression

Chapter 27: There is No Better Way than the Jesus Way

Chapter 28: I Can Hope Big

Chapter 29: The Lies and Sins That Once Blinded Me are Far Removed

Chapter 30: May My Words and Actions not Hinder, but Lead

Decision Prayer

Bibliography

To Tachu, Arianne and Sophie

Permissions

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Scripture quotations marked ICB are taken from the International Children’s Bible®. Copyright © 1986, 1988, 1999 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Acknowledgments

To my patient and loving husband, Tachu, thank you for your endless support with this project. Thank you for believing that I had a story to tell worth writing about. You listen and you care and you always lend me your ear. To know that I have your ear and my Father’s ear, is to be seen and loved. You are a gift.

To Arianne, thank you for teaching me what it means to be a mom, to feel your love and care and concern for my well being. Thank you that you have loved me in the best way possible. May you know that the story He is writing in your life, is worth sharing with those around you. May He always be your source of strength that in Him you would have unwavering faith and unswerving hope. May His Word carry you through every high and low until the day we walk into heavens gates.

To Sophie, I carry with me sweet memories of you checking in on me throughout this project, genuinely concerned and interested in the words written in my heart. Your hugs, smiles and prayers for me, are a true gift from heaven. May your sweet and tender heart hold His love and truth as the most precious treasure in this life, that when you walk heavens gates, you will see His love and truth face-to-face.

To Papito, thank you for your fierce love toward your daughters and grandchildren. Thank you for teaching me loyalty and love in the joys of everyday life. Your devoted heart has taught me the true essence of fatherly love. Your support and embrace have carried me through some of the darkest times of my life. I would not be who I am without you.

To my Mamita Linda, what joys this life has brought me through your life. Thank you for your constant support, your relentless prayers and your fierce faith. Thank you for introducing us to Jesus. His grace, mercy and sacrificial love. You’ve taught me the Way, my most treasured gift. And now, you teach my girls. Our family would not be where we are without your prayers.

To my sisters, thank you for praying and encouraging me through a journey I’ve never walked before. From our childhood joys to our lives as adults and mothers, your love has been a constant reminder to push forward.

To my prayer warrior friends, thank you for your care, love and prayers over me as I wrote and discovered the words in my heart. Your sincere love is a gift from heaven I will forever treasure in my heart.

To Julia, my teacher, mentor, sister and friend. You gave me the courage I needed to write. Your profound teaching of His Word and your dedication to His truths, impacted my life in more ways than one. You taught me to love His Word and to not keep it to myself. Thank you for reading my very first manuscript and for helping guide and direct my writing. I am forever grateful to you.

To Brian, a million thank you’s for all of your time and energy spent reading and editing my manuscript. Thank you for your dedication to excellence and nothing less. Thank you for encouraging me to persevere in the world of writing. You encouraged me the whole way through.

To my home church, CPC, your dedication to make and mature followers of Christ is the very essence of who you are. After being absent for a decade, I walked into the church famished and thirsty. Your teaching fed me and nurtured me back to health and continues to do so. Jesus is the great Physician and He continually uses you to heal the areas of my heart that are most broken. Thank you for your unwavering dedication to grace and truth.

Introduction

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.

Luke 19:10

About the book:

Come and See is a project that started many years ago during a time of quiet and heartfelt meditation on Jesus’ words. It started out as a compilation of journal entries and poignant truths that jumped out of the very pages of the book of John. It has turned out to be my heart’s greatest passion, putting together a thirty-day devotional study, verse by verse, of John 1. As you study a verse each day, I have interwoven applicable, very personal testimonies of my faith and journey with Jesus. I share the highs along with the very real struggles and disappointments where God has met me and lifted me up. My desire is that through the work of the Holy Spirit, each verse will come alive in your hearts. I hope and pray that this book will draw you closer to His heart. That it will lead you to come into His presence every day and see Jesus.

About the Author, the apostle John:

The apostle John walked with Jesus during His ministry that lasted approximately three and a half years. He was a beloved and devout apostle and follower of Christ. He walked and talked with our LORD. The apostle John takes us on a journey where we learn what it means to walk alongside Jesus. He simultaneously teaches us the realities of this dark world as well as the hope that abounds in our Savior, Jesus Christ. John’s narrative is not one of storytelling as much as it is of truth-telling. He invites you into God’s story that you might find yourself in it and more importantly, see Jesus.

About John the Baptist:

Not to be confused with the apostle John, John the Baptist is Jesus’ cousin, born approximately six months before Jesus. His mother, Elizabeth, is a relative of Mary, the mother of Jesus. One of the very first things said about John the Baptist is during Mary’s visit to Elizabeth (both were pregnant at the time), When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:41). The first encounter John the Baptist had with his cousin Jesus is remarkable. This marks the beginning of John the Baptist’s calling and purpose in preparing the way for hearts to listen and accept the saving grace of Jesus. John the Baptist was a devout believer in Christ even before he saw him with his own eyes. He went around sharing and exalting the coming Messiah, the long-awaited Savior of the Jews and, we would learn, non-Jews. His gift was for all to receive.

How to read through this devotional book:

The book is intended to be read as a daily devotional study. It is divided into chapters or days with the intent of reading it as a 30-day journey inviting you to come and see the truth about Jesus.

Day: Each day begins with a very personal short story of how God has impressed upon me the importance of the verse for that day. It ends with a short phrase, something you can take away with you to remember the story and apply its teaching to your life.

Come and See: Following the short story, you are invited to come and see Jesus in John 1. We begin in verse 1 on Day 1 and continue through each verse, in order, until we reach the end with verse 51 on Day 30. You will find each verse written out for you right below the Come and See title for each day, so you are able to follow along. Additionally, where necessary, I have added verses from the Bible to help further explain my teaching.

At the end of each devotion, you will find a section titled:

Prayer: Suggests a prayer if it is your heart’s desire.

Reflect: Allows for some reflection time on the reading and taking action toward change.

His