180: Becoming the New You

By Dillon Schupp

In six months, you can be better than you are today.

You can be a better spouse. A better parent. A better friend. A better employee, boss, student, teacher. You don’t have to stay the same and accept your current life as “That’s just the way I am.”

You can change.

More precisely, you can change as Jesus changes you. And He does that as you develop a daily habit of reading and applying His Word.

180: Becoming the New You is a six-month journey through the life of Jesus that is designed to develop what will be the single most life-changing habit of your life: connecting with Jesus daily through His Word. As you do so, you’ll discover that following Jesus is about more than simply going to heaven when you die. Following Jesus is just as much about becoming a brand new you while you’re alive. .

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jan 14, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664216358

Dillon Schupp

Dillon Schupp is the Vision and Teaching Pastor of LifeSpring Church in Smithfield, North Carolina. He has a passion for helping people grow in their relationship with Jesus by presenting content that is helpful, easy to understand, and relevant to daily life. He and his wife, Grace, have been married for eight years and have a son, Cayson.

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Copyright © 2021 Dillon Schupp.

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Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

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ISBN: 978-1-6642-1637-2 (sc)

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ISBN: 978-1-6642-1635-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020924698

WestBow Press rev. date: 01/14/2021

CONTENTS

Introduction: Before You Start, Read This

Day 1       You’re Part Of Something More

Day 2       Just Do It

Day 3       If You Want To Find Jesus …

Day 4       Hidden Motives

Day 5       Turn Around

Day 6       The Source

Day 7       Break Up

Day 8       Make It Better

Day 9       Before Anything Else

Day 10     The Standard

Day 11     Not Mine

Day 12     Urgent

Day 13     Do I Have To Be Nice?

Day 14     How To Never Break

Day 15     Saved People Serve People

Day 16     I Don’t Want To Let It Go

Day 17     It Doesn’t Mix

Day 18     Into The Field

Day 19     Taken Care Of

Day 20     Alone At The Top

Day 21     Outside The Walls

Day 22     Burned Out

Day 23     What Kind Of Tree Are You?

Day 24     Overflow

Day 25     How To Guarantee This Won’t Work

Day 26     Total Change

Day 27     Impossible

Day 28     Out Of Focus

Day 29     Lip Service

Day 30     Jesus For Everyone

Day 31     The Question

Day 32     A Call To Die

Day 33     Listen

Day 34     Big Faith

Day 35     Whatever It Takes—Remove It

Day 36     Let It Go

Day 37     One

Day 38     What’s Behind The One Thing?

Day 39     Upside Down

Day 40     True Greatness

Day 41     Get Out Of The Way

Day 42     Fruitful

Day 43     Who Does It Belong To?

Day 44     Keep It Simple

Day 45     The Way To The Top

Day 46     The Show Doesn’t Matter

Day 47     That’s Not Really Impressive

Day 48     God Knows. Don’t Worry About It.

Day 49     Stay Ready

Day 50     What’s The Goal?

Day 51     Legacy

Day 52     Follow The Plan

Day 53     We’re All Capable Of This

Day 54     Yes, It’s On You

Day 55     Forsaken For Our Sake

Day 56     Why We Follow

Day 57     Let ’Em Know!

Day 58     The Time Is Now

Day 59     We Need This—Every Day

Day 60     Whatever It Takes, Get Them To Jesus

Day 61     These Don’t Mix

Day 62     Yes, Those Guys!

Day 63     Stronger Than Blood

Day 64     What Makes The Word Unhelpful

Day 65     Into The Storm

Day 66     Go

Day 67     This Isn’t The End

Day 68     This Will Always Get You Into Trouble

Day 69     Embrace The Interruption

Day 70     What Matters Most To You?

Day 71     What Are You Known For?

Day 72     God Doesn’t Have To Prove Anything

Day 73     When We Do This, We Play For The Devil

Day 74     One Of The Best Prayers To Pray

Day 75     We’re All On The Same Team

Day 76     Living For The Impossible

Day 77     The Wrong Way To Come To Jesus

Day 78     Do We Know What We’re Saying?

Day 79     Make A Decision

Day 80     God Can Figure It Out

Day 81     True Generosity

Day 82     Don’t Believe Everything You Hear

Day 83     Jesus’s Word Never Changes

Day 84     Worth It All

Day 85     It’s Not About What I Want

Day 86     How We End Up In The Place We Didn’t Think We’d Be

Day 87     Jesus In My Place

Day 88     Jesus Made The Way In!

Day 89     Just As He Said

Day 90     Nothing Is Impossible

Day 91     My Responsibility

Day 92     My Purpose

Day 93     Good News And Great Joy

Day 94     Where I’m Supposed To Be

Day 95     Knowing My Place

Day 96     His Position Is My Position

Day 97     You’ve Already Got It

Day 98     Focused

Day 99     The Attitude That Changes Everything

Day 100   Doctor Needed!

Day 101   It’s Not Great To Be Popular

Day 102   Lord Of All—Or Not Lord At All?

Day 103   Compassion

Day 104   The Wrong Purpose

Day 105   Not Deep Enough

Day 106   Driven Away

Day 107   What’s The Point?

Day 108   Resolute

Day 109   Ask For More Of These

Day 110   Choose This

Day 111   Keep Praying

Day 112   Inside Matters

Day 113   This Is How Much God Cares

Day 114   Responsible

Day 115   Outside The System

Day 116   Make Every Effort

Day 117   No More Selfies

Day 118   Stay Salty

Day 119   What Makes Heaven Celebrate

Day 120   Why Heaven Celebrates

Day 121   Pick One

Day 122   Prove It?

Day 123   Be The One Who Comes Back

Day 124   Don’t Go With Your Gut

Day 125   Are You Still Praying?

Day 126   I’m Just Not That Good

Day 127   Jesus Came For This

Day 128   God Will Be Praised

Day 129   Is That A Sincere Question?

Day 130   It Ain’t About The Show

Day 131   I Signed Up For This?

Day 132   This Will Throw Me Off

Day 133   Be The One Who Serves

Day 134   Pray Against This

Day 135   How To Be A Lousy Leader

Day 136   You Have To Recognize This To Be Saved

Day 137   Nobody Expected No Body

Day 138   The Only Way To Understand The Bible

Day 139   Grace And Truth

Day 140   The First Thing To Do When Following Jesus

Day 141   The Best Advice From Jesus’s Mom

Day 142   The Most Well-Known Verse In The Bible—And What Comes After It

Day 143   The Goal

Day 144   Never Thirsty Again

Day 145   What Sharing Your Story Does

Day 146   Participate In The Process

Day 147   You Can’t Just Read The Bible

Day 148   Further Than You Imagine

Day 149   This Is God’s Will For Your Life

Day 150   Where Else Would We Go?

Day 151   It’s Not About What Looks Good

Day 152   Being Saved Is Not Just About Your Salvation

Day 153   Grace And Truth—In Action

Day 154   Freedom

Day 155   The Wrong Assumption About Trials

Day 156   When You Meet Jesus, This Is Inevitable

Day 157   Why You Never Have To Doubt Jesus

Day 158   You Follow Jesus If You Do This

Day 159   Eternal Life

Day 160   It Won’t Be Pleasant … At Least At First

Day 161   Don’t Love Your Life Too Much

Day 162   Whose Approval Are You Looking For?

Day 163   Follow Jesus’s Example

Day 164   How To Really Love

Day 165   No Other Way

Day 166   If You Love Jesus, You’ll Do Thisw

Day 167   The Best Place We Can Be

Day 168   Expect It

Day 169   It’s Good That Jesus Isn’t With Us

Day 170   Take Heart

Day 171   What Should Be Happening Through The Word

Day 172   What Jesus Wants For His Church

Day 173   Follow The Plan—Even When It Hurts

Day 174   Don’t Be So Cynical

Day 175   Pick A Side

Day 176   Finished

Day 177   Not Just A Legend

Day 178   You Are Sent

Day 179   Lord

Day 180   Don’t Play The Comparison Game

Day 181   Next

INTRODUCTION:

BEFORE YOU START, READ THIS

An 180-degree turn means change. That’s exactly what Jesus calls us to when we step into a relationship with Him.

Jesus saves us not so we can be more like us but so we can become more like Him. This doesn’t happen overnight. In fact, it’s a lifelong process. Thankfully, He has given us a beautiful gift to help us along the way: His Word—the Bible.

The challenge for many of us is the Bible seems overwhelming. What does it all mean? How do I understand it? Can I even hope to understand it? If I can’t understand it, what am I even supposed to do with it?

I remember being there. It was discouraging and made reading the Bible something to be endured rather than enjoyed.

And then I experienced someone’s preaching that showed me how I—on my own—could read, understand, and apply scripture to my life. That literally changed everything for me!

That’s why I wrote 180. There is no greater life-changing habit than daily reading, understanding, and applying God’s Word. 180 will help you do just that as you read through the Gospels, the written accounts of Jesus’s life, over the next six months.

Understanding the Bible starts with realizing that it’s not about how much you read; it’s about whether you understand and apply what you read. That’s why each day’s reading is not multiple chapters but a portion of a single chapter. Every day is a chunk that is perfectly manageable, whether you’re just starting a daily habit of reading the Bible or your life is so busy that you barely have ten minutes to spare from the time you get up to the time you lie down at night. That portion of scripture is the most important thing you will read every day. Don’t skip it!

The next step is beyond reading; it’s asking, What is God saying to me? What does He want me to do? That’s why each day highlights a single verse from the reading, and it includes an observation and a practical next step so you know what to do with what you just read. That next step is called 180 because each next step is a part of the journey to becoming the new you that Jesus calls you to be. It’s a change from what you are doing to what Jesus calls you to do.

The final part is what is often left out of a devotion plan: prayer. To grow deeper in any relationship requires two-way communication. God communicates to us through His Word, and we communicate back to Him in prayer. Each day will include a prayer based on the highlighted scripture to conclude your time with God.

My hope is this is just the beginning of a lifelong habit of spending time with Jesus every day, and I pray that at the end of the next 180 days, you will see a 180-degree change in your life, which in turn will encourage you to continue going to God in His Word every day, armed with the knowledge that you can read it, understand it, apply it, and pray it—all on your own.

There’s nothing more life changing than that!

So, let’s get started.

1

DAY

YOU’RE PART OF

SOMETHING MORE

25554.png Reading: Matthew 1:1–17

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham (Matthew 1:1)

The first words of Matthew’s account of the life of Jesus are more than just the introduction. These words define the purpose of Matthew’s writing. More than that, This is the genealogy of Jesus shouts at the introduction of the New Testament one simple fact: this is Jesus’s story. Jesus is the focus. Jesus is the object. Jesus is who the entirety of scripture revolves around.

Better yet, Jesus is who the entirety of creation revolves around. And He is the one our lives are meant to revolve around. The opening statement of Matthew is driving at this point.

Our story isn’t really our story. Our story is meant to be a part of His story. Our story is meant to be a part of the symphony that God has been writing throughout the ages that points to Jesus Christ.

We’re a part of much more than just working a nine-to-five, paying the bills, and trying to just get by. We were created to be a part of something glorious and majestic that will echo through eternity: the story of Jesus Christ.

180: If my life is meant to be a part of Jesus’s story, then my life is not meant to be lived for myself. This is why, as a church, we like to define our purpose as a church and individuals as, primarily, Live for God.

As you journey through these 180 days, start with this prayer:

Father, I so often live for myself—for my hopes, my dreams, and my goals. Yet Your Word makes it clear that I am meant for something more. I am meant to be a part of Jesus’s story; I am meant to live for You. Show me where I am living for myself and change me to live for You. In Jesus’s name, amen.

2

DAY

JUST DO IT

28957.png Reading: Matthew 1:18–25

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. (Matthew 1:24)

In our context, it’s difficult to imagine just how difficult this step was for Joseph. In a nutshell, taking Mary as his wife would have meant embracing public shame and disgrace. Mary, in being found pregnant before marriage, would have been shunned by the community she lived in—and, come on, who was going to believe that it was a miracle that she was pregnant?

No self-respecting man would take such a woman as his wife … unless he was the father to begin with.

The community at large would have concluded that Joseph was not a faithful and just guy—but a fool at best and the immoral father of an illegitimate child at worst.

And yet Joseph did exactly as he was commanded. And all indications are that he did so as soon as he had the opportunity.

This is how change happens in our lives. Change happens when we hear what God commands us—and we obey without delay.

180: To begin to live for God means that we start obeying what He say—and every single one of us has something in our lives that God is commanding us to do right now. The question is simply whether you are being obedient. Yes, it will be difficult, but as Joseph shows us, the difficulty of obedience does not relieve us of the responsibility to obey.

As you reflect on this passage, chances are something comes to mind that you have failed to obey God in. Today as you pray, take time to repent for your disobedience and ask God to give you the courage to