Day 1

John 15:4-5,16: "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing... You did not choose me, but I chose and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you."

This chapter is about abiding in Jesus and spending extravagant time with him daily. Every person's quiet time is different; we have the same essential elements, but we all do them in our own way. I've never been one to spend a large amount of time doing these things, just as long as I did them daily. But one of the challenges the journal offers is to tithe your time during the 30 days of the journal. That's roughly 2 1/2 hours every day.

It can sound a bit overwhelming, but when you consider the things you clog your day with like T.V., Facebook, etc, it makes it easier to see how 2 1/2 hours isn't too much to ask. What do you really get from watching that movie or from sitting at the computer playing games? You know the saying "Could've had a V8?" Well, how about "Could've prayed!", or "Could've read the Bible!"

Then, when you start spending extravagant time with Jesus you want to do it more. That time becomes special. I just spent an hour only on reading the Bible. I've never done that before(It's a pretty neat, if I must say so)! I can't wait to see what I'll discover by spending extravagant time with Jesus every day.