Welcome to 21 Days of Easter with Rusty George
Join me as we journey through the book of John together for 21 days of devotionals leading up to Easter Sunday. My prayer is that these 21 days of reflection and meditation would leave you all encouraged and strengthened in your faith, and that you would use these devotionals to encourage the people around you.
I cannot wait to see the amazing work that God does within us all as we grow together studying this powerful book of the Bible.
Day 21: What Does God Think About Me?
Easter is here! 21 days and 21 chapters for us. It’s been over 3 years for these guys. They’ve heard teachings, they’ve seen miracles, and now they’ve seen Jesus come back from the dead. And still Peter is struggling with “What does God think about me?” He’s just...
Day 20: Jesus Overcomes Our Doubts
If you were fortunate enough as a kid to escape without a nickname, consider yourself blessed. For most of us, we only prayed that if we got a knick name that it was positive. Like “champion” or “rockstar”... not “Crusty Rusty”. Through the years one of the...
Day 19: It Is Finished
Are you a list maker? I use post it notes, day planners, apps and alerts all to get things done. And when I’m done, there is no greater feeling than crossing them off my list. Jesus' entire life was a to do list. And from birth, he was checking them off. From...
Day 18: Why Are My Prayers Going Unanswered?
We all wonder why some prayers go unanswered. And for many of us we think that the problem is our lack of faith or passion. Maybe we need to stand more, kneel more, fall on our face more. Perhaps we are not praying loud enough, or earnest enough, or often enough. ...
Day 17: The Love of a Father
I like it when others like me. Don’t you? I think we all do. Then there are those who do whatever it takes to get others to like them. We are called approval addicts. And for all of us who struggle with this, we know what a dangerous road it takes us down. Our...
Day 16: When Life Gets Tough
I often believe that if life is tough, then God must not be blessing me... So I must be doing something wrong, right? Many of us struggle with difficulty in our job or family or health and assume we are no longer #blessed, and that it must be our fault. What have we...
Day 15: Loving the Way Jesus Has Loved Us
Too many rules. Ever thought that about religion? Go to church, pray, read your Bible. And that’s just the easy stuff. Think about the list that many of us have in our heads. "Love others, forgive those who hurt you, pray for those who persecute you, have joy, be...
Day 14: The Way, The Truth, The Life
Meal time can be a profound time. It can be so much more than just eating. This is where we plan for the week, review our day, and share our hurts and successes. And this last meal Jesus is having with his disciples is so much more than just a meal. First, it’s the...
Day 13: Jesus as a Servant
How often during the day do you think… “I have a right to _______.” You don’t say it, you just think it. If our kids say it, we call them entitled. If we think it we call it self-care or standing up for yourself. In today’s reading we see Jesus denying himself all...
Day 12: Choose Your Crowds Carefully
Years ago there was a book that examined the wisdom of crowds. When popular opinion sways a group to do something… is it good or bad? As you might expect, it’s sometimes good… and sometimes not so good. Jesus is on his way into Jerusalem for the last time and a crowd...
Day 11: What Is Your Image of Jesus?
What is your image of Jesus? A shepherd… a savior… a resurrected King? Maybe a healer, and forgiver, our Lord? How often do you remember that Jesus was also fully human? Jesus was 100% God and man. In John 11 we read about Jesus attending the funeral of his friend...
Day 10: What Is Jesus Saying to You Today?
We don’t understand the sheep stories very well. Jesus uses a lot of them because his audience knows them as well as we know dogs. (though I doubt anyone ever put a Halloween costume on a sheep back then) So when he says this phrase, it’s a bit lost on us. "The...
Day 9: Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?
Why do bad things happen to good people? The biggest question all of us face. We struggle when bad things happen to us… and to anyone we love. Even when we see random people experiencing difficulty we want to know, who can we blame? Why would this happen? Many have...
Day 8: Who Are You Accusing?
Today we read one of the most famous accounts of Jesus’ interactions with people. "Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them." John 8:1-2 This is not a...
Day 7: What Are Your Assumptions About God?
Somehow we all grow up with an image of God. And we often carry this into our adulthood. For me it was an image of a powerful being in the sky recording my every move and quietly keeping score on how well I was doing. What is it for you? Old man on a big throne in...
Day 6: How Do You See Jesus?
For many of us trusting in Jesus is a bit difficult. After all, we can’t see him. We hear people tell stories of “placing their trust in Jesus” or “surrendering their lives to Jesus” and we think, “good for you, but I’m a bit more cautious.” Or maybe you even use...
Day 5: What is On Your To-Do List?
Odds are you have a to-do list for today. Pick up the kids, drop off the dry cleaning, prep for dinner, deal with homework and music lessons. Oh, and go to work. Odds are you have a to-do list FOR God as well. Not what you want him to do, but we all have that. But...
Day 4: Worship is Not About Perfection
Jesus continues to drop jaws. He heals people. He tells the religious rulers that acceptance with God is not based on perfection. And now he’s about to tell someone that it has nothing to do with place. This was big back then. Everything was about the temple. ...
Day 3: God loved. God gave. We believe. We receive.
Jesus’ time on this earth was long before Twitter… but he has some amazing tweets. If he were able to post some of these, they would have gone viral, trending now, and whatever term is being used this week to describe a great post. But by far one of the most...
Day 2: Who Did Jesus Trust?
A counselor once told me that Jesus trusted people, but would not “entrust” his heart to them. In other words, the only one who held his heart was his Father. Think about how much less pain we might have if we’d practiced that simple truth. Most of us entrust our heart to people’s opinions, approval, support and loyalty only to end up broken hearted.
Day 1: More Than Just a Holiday
It’s more than a holiday for family, more than bunnies and eggs, and more than a family dinner. Easter changed the world. Over the next 21 days let’s take some time to walk with Jesus' closest friend, John as he tells us who this man was, and is. Here’s what we know...