Austin ridge
Austin ridge

Time with god

Our Daily Devotional is a bite-sized bible study that appears in your inbox, Monday-Friday!

Delivered every weekday at sunrise

Tap to preview
September 28

Blinded by Brokenness

GETTING STARTED

I think one of life’s biggest frustrations—and perhaps hurts—is being misunderstood. Trying to communicate your heart or intentions to someone who doesn’t understand can be very frustrating. Seeing how people operate in different cultures will often create confusion over their actions: Why do Ugandans move their eyebrows up and down when you talk with them? How about when Indians seemingly nod and shake their head at the same time? Why do people in Vienna wear pig hats on New Year’s Eve? Sometimes actions, even with the purest of intentions, can be misunderstood and misconstrued.

  • Take a moment to imagine how the holy, perfect Jesus might have felt when he was trying to communicate with sinful, broken humanity while he was here.

READ THE WORD: JOHN 7:32-36 (ESV) 

32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. 33 Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. 34 You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” 35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What does he mean by saying, ‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”

English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

DIGGING DEEPER

  1. Why were the authorities sending officers to arrest Jesus?
  2. Where was Jesus going (vs. 33)? Why did they focus on “the Dispersion among the Greeks” as Jesus’ destination?
  3. Why were those around Jesus confused at what he said? What caused them to misunderstand?
  4. Is there any area in your life that keeps you from seeing Jesus’ character and ways definitively?

RESPOND TO GOD

Our personal sin and pain gets in the way of seeing things clearly. In our own lives we see everything, to some degree, through our own sin and brokenness. The Jews were doing the right thing in looking for the Messiah. But their brokenness kept them from seeing not only that Jesus was the Messiah, but also what he was doing while with them. Jesus’ message was getting more to the point (declaring himself to be the Son of God) and difficult to understand. The Jews were so frustrated at Jesus’ message that they were ready to kill him. They were blinded by their sin. Even though Jesus was right there in front of them, they still didn’t understand.

  • John 16:7-13 tells us that while Jesus may not be physically here with us any longer, he has left us the Holy Spirit to help reveal our sin and discern truth.
  • Take a moment now to thank the Lord for giving you his Spirit to lead you.
Scroll over the phone to preview

What to expect

The goal of Time With God is to help you connect with God through Scripture and prayer. Each of our daily devotionals will allow you to dive deeper into a passage of Scripture and teach you how to apply it to your life.

View a sample devotional

A word from our team

Welcome to Time With God! We exist to help you connect with Scripture and grow deeper in your relationship with the Lord. Our daily devotionals will provide you with an easy and accessible way to study Scripture for yourself, whether you are a new believer or a long-time follower of Jesus.

We created Time With God to be one tool among many that you can use to help you dive deeper into God’s Word and learn how to apply it to your life. Through spending regular time with the Lord, we hope and pray you would experience the peace and ever-increasing joy that comes with knowing and following Jesus.

Your daily email includes:

  • An intro that provides greater context
  • A short portion of Scripture to read
  • Follow-up questions to help you dive deeper
  • Ways you can practically apply God’s Word
  • Prompts to guide your time in prayer
Subscribe

What people are saying

“Time With God gives me the help I need to study God’s Word. I can use it for a quick devotional time when I’m on the go, or I can sit down and really dig into the questions. I love that there is always a real-life application.”

Carrie

53 yo

“I know how important it is to read the Bible each day, and Time With God takes away any excuses I might have for not knowing where to start. It’s rich, simple truths about God that help me live my life worshipping Him.”

Robert

62 yo

“For better or worse, most of us grab our phones first thing in the morning to scroll. Getting TWG in my inbox each morning helps refocus my first thoughts on Jesus in the Word. That time fuels the rest of my day in ways that social media never could.”

Steven

31 yo