Reflective Bible Study

As we continue forward in our year looking at events where Jesus’ life is connected with passages in the Old Testament and places where Jesus’ ministry fulfills prophecy, we come to the start of a set of passages that describe Jesus being confronted in the garden on the night He was betrayed.

However, we’ll save the prophecies specifically about betrayal for our next couple of episodes.

For this episode, let’s turn our attention onto a Psalm that includes a couple of verses that could be applied to Jesus’ experience in the garden. The Psalm we will be looking at is Psalm, number 40, and let’s read it using the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 1, the psalmist writes:

¹ I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
² He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.
³ He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in the Lord.

⁴ How blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust,
And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.
⁵ Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders which You have done,
And Your thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They would be too numerous to count.

⁶ Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired;
My ears You have opened;
Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.
⁷ Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
⁸ I delight to do Your will, O my God;
Your Law is within my heart.”

⁹ I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation;
Behold, I will not restrain my lips,
O Lord, You know.
¹⁰ I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation.

¹¹ You, O Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me;
Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.
¹² For evils beyond number have surrounded me;
My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;
They are more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my heart has failed me.

¹³ Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;
Make haste, O Lord, to help me.
¹⁴ Let those be ashamed and humiliated together
Who seek my life to destroy it;
Let those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight in my hurt.
¹⁵ Let those be appalled because of their shame
Who say to me, “Aha, aha!”
¹⁶ Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let those who love Your salvation say continually,
“The Lord be magnified!”
¹⁷ Since I am afflicted and needy,
Let the Lord be mindful of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Do not delay, O my God.

While there are many different angles we can understand this psalm, and several pieces of it that we could focus our attention on, the specific verse that caught my eye prompting me to include it for our time together is verse 14, where the psalmist writes:

“Let those be ashamed and humiliated together
Who seek my life to destroy it;
Let those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight in my hurt.”

On the surface, this verse could apply to just about anyone who feels as though others are interested in doing them harm. This was true for King David in the Old Testament as it was true for Jesus, and as it is true for many people living today.

However, let’s move to the New Testament and look at a fascinating detail that John includes in his gospel within the time that Jesus was being betrayed leading up to His arrest. This detail is found in John’s gospel, chapter 18, and let’s begin reading in verse 1:

¹ When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden, in which He entered with His disciples. ² Now Judas also, who was betraying Him, knew the place, for Jesus had often met there with His disciples. ³ Judas then, having received the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. ⁴ So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” ⁵ They answered Him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He said to them, “I am He.” And Judas also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them. ⁶ So when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground. ⁷ Therefore He again asked them, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.” ⁸ Jesus answered, “I told you that I am He; so if you seek Me, let these go their way,” ⁹ to fulfill the word which He spoke, “Of those whom You have given Me I lost not one.” ¹⁰ Simon Peter then, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear; and the slave’s name was Malchus. ¹¹ So Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?”

In this passage John shares during Jesus’ betrayal, John includes an interesting detail that describes Jesus meeting His accusers directly, even though by doing this, Jesus would be risking direct harm.

The way John describes this event is fascinating in my mind. When the solders came with lanterns, torches, and weapons, Jesus steps forward to great them. Jesus asks them who they are looking for and they say Jesus, the Nazarene. Perhaps these accusers had not seen Jesus at night, so they were a little uncertain exactly who was greeting them, but I would have imagined that at least some of them should have recognized Jesus by His voice.

However, the way Jesus answers is powerful. Instead of misdirecting focus, or sending those present in a different direction, Jesus fully accepts the challenge that was coming towards Him. While Jesus could have done something similar to Elisha, who prayed for his adversaries to become blind before leading them to a place where they would not have intended to go, Jesus could have easily done something to have avoided being arrested. In case you are wondering where the event with Elisha is, this event can be found in 2 Kings, chapter 6.

John describes Jesus facing His accusers head on, and whether those coming to arrest Him were surprised by Jesus’ straight answer, or whether something supernatural happened when Jesus spoke the words “I am He”, all those coming to arrest Him fell back to the ground.

In a strangely predictive way, when the crowd drew back and fell to the ground, as John’s gospel describes, they appear to also fulfill the potentially prophetic words of the psalmist we looked at from the Old Testament, which describe people seeking to destroy life being turned back and dishonored.

We can learn and know from this fulfilled prophecy that Jesus met the challenge of the cross willingly, without hesitation, and fully knowing what would happen. Avoiding the cross was not something Jesus even hinted at doing.

Before closing this episode, I want to draw attention to one additional fulfilled prophecy in Jesus’ arrest. Jesus fulfills His own prophecy that is found a chapter earlier in John. While Jesus was praying to the Father, He prayed that He would not lose any of those who the Father had given to Him, except for the one who had to be lost. The one Jesus refers to in that prayer is Judas Iscariot the betrayer. To fulfill this prayer, John writes Jesus’ words asking those who have come to arrest Him that they let all the others go.

This small detail is powerful, because when Jesus faces what some might believe to be the greatest challenge of His earthly ministry, He has His followers still in focus. If any of Jesus’ followers had died during that arrest, it would not have brought glory to God. Instead, the path that brought God glory was Jesus fulfilling His promises, His Word, and Jesus protecting His disciples through the chaos that weekend held.

With everything chaotic that is happening in the world around us, let’s remember that Jesus is not surprised by the world’s chaos. Instead, we can trust that Jesus knows what will happen and that He is actively working to bring about the end of sin and the salvation of His people.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always open by challenging you, intentionally seek God first in your life and place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Him. When life gets crazy, lean on Jesus for strength and guidance to navigate life’s challenges.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with God. Through prayer and Bible study, discover who God is, what He is like, and what He wants to invite you into when Jesus returns to bring His people home!

And until that day and as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we near the half way mark in our year focusing in on Luke’s gospel, we come to another part of Luke’s gospel where he shares some of Jesus’ messages that are more challenging. However, because Luke is writing this to someone who never met Jesus personally, we can know that these teachings are applicable to more than just those who Jesus spoke to directly. While the message Jesus shares is challenging, I suspect Luke knows that this message is applicable for all of Jesus’ followers throughout history.

Because of this, let’s read this message Jesus shared and discover what we can learn from it. Our passage for this episode is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 12, and we will read it from the New Century Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 35, Luke tells us Jesus taught those present saying:

³⁵ “Be dressed, ready for service, and have your lamps shining. ³⁶ Be like servants who are waiting for their master to come home from a wedding party. When he comes and knocks, the servants immediately open the door for him. ³⁷ They will be blessed when their master comes home, because he sees that they were watching for him. I tell you the truth, the master will dress himself to serve and tell the servants to sit at the table, and he will serve them. ³⁸ Those servants will be blessed when he comes in and finds them still waiting, even if it is midnight or later.

³⁹ “Remember this: If the owner of the house knew what time a thief was coming, he would not allow the thief to enter his house. ⁴⁰ So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at a time when you don’t expect him!”

Pausing our reading briefly, it is easy to wonder if Jesus is talking to just His immediate followers, or if Jesus’ message extends beyond. It seems as though Peter also has this question, because he speaks up in the next verse.

Continuing in verse 41:

⁴¹ Peter said, “Lord, did you tell this story to us or to all people?”

⁴² The Lord said, “Who is the wise and trusted servant that the master trusts to give the other servants their food at the right time? ⁴³ When the master comes and finds the servant doing his work, the servant will be blessed. ⁴⁴ I tell you the truth, the master will choose that servant to take care of everything he owns. ⁴⁵ But suppose the servant thinks to himself, ‘My master will not come back soon,’ and he begins to beat the other servants, men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. ⁴⁶ The master will come when that servant is not ready and is not expecting him. Then the master will cut him in pieces and send him away to be with the others who don’t obey.

⁴⁷ “The servant who knows what his master wants but is not ready, or who does not do what the master wants, will be beaten with many blows! ⁴⁸ But the servant who does not know what his master wants and does things that should be punished will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded. And from the one trusted with much, much more will be expected.

⁴⁹ “I came to set fire to the world, and I wish it were already burning! ⁵⁰ I have a baptism to suffer through, and I feel very troubled until it is over. ⁵¹ Do you think I came to give peace to the earth? No, I tell you, I came to divide it. ⁵² From now on, a family with five people will be divided, three against two, and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Let’s stop reading here because what Jesus has shared in this passage is powerful and I don’t want us to miss it.

Jesus has just finished sharing one of His most challenging messages. Many people living in the first century believed the Messiah would come and usher in an age of peace for all people. These people believed that after a brief but decisive victory over the Romans who had control of their country, the Messiah would set up a new kingdom that would never be destroyed and a kingdom that would bring peace.

This was the belief of those present, but Jesus directly challenges this mindset by saying that He did not come to bring peace but to divide the earth. A surface reading might imply that Jesus came to divide families against each other, but when framed like this, it doesn’t sound very Godly or Christ-like to divide families.

However, Jesus did not come to divide families. Instead, Jesus shifts from what He came to do, which was to divide the earth, and onto the result, which is that families would be divided. Jesus came to redeem humanity and the earth from sin, and when humanity is blinded by sin, and actively living in and preferring sin, there is a clear tension present. The division Jesus came to make was giving people the choice of whether to continue living in sin or to choose a life that places sin in the past.

Jesus did not come with the goal to divide families, but He knew that families would be divided when some preferred their lives of sin while others were interested in leaving sin behind.

While the reality of every situation is way more complicated than the oversimplified description I just shared, this oversimplification is more like a theme that runs through almost every spiritual division within families. Jesus came to redeem people from sin, to call people to live new lives with Him, and to reward those who have repented and turned to God with eternal life when He returns.

This is one reason why the opening part of our passage always stands out to me. As our passage opened, Jesus tells His followers in verses 36 and 37 “Be like servants who are waiting for their master to come home from a wedding party. When he comes and knocks, the servants immediately open the door for him. They will be blessed when their master comes home, because he sees that they were watching for him. I tell you the truth, the master will dress himself to serve and tell the servants to sit at the table, and he will serve them.”

While we might want to read this passage as the servants get to serve the master when the master arrives home, the reverse is what is described. While the servants fully expect to serve the master on his arrival, the master reverses the roles. Jesus describes the master stepping down and serving the servants when he finds them ready and watching for his arrival.

When we understand that Jesus is describing His return in this illustration, we begin to see that when Jesus returns, He will reward those who have been patiently waiting for Him by serving them when they fully expect to serve Him instead. Those who have been serving God all their lives will be able to rest and let God serve them. The servants who God finds at their posts serving Him will be rewarded when He returns.

As servants of God, let’s continue to model Jesus to the world. This means that even though Jesus said that His arrival would divide the world, we are not to intentionally cause division. Instead, Jesus came reflecting God’s love for those who were hurting, and with the challenge to return to God towards all who were sinning. This should be our attitude and our message. Let’s show our love for God by loving others, and let’s call people to live to a higher standard and out of lives that are focused on sin.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to let God lead you out of sin. Let God help you leave sin in your past and when given the choice on whether to serve sin, self, or God, choose to serve God. Serving God leads to receiving God’s reward of eternal life and a life that outlasts sin.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, intentionally pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. Through prayer and study, discover how to open your heart to the Holy Spirit and let Him into your heart, your mind, and your life!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we come up to the half way point in our year looking at Old Testament prophecies, passages, and events that connect in some way with Jesus’ life and ministry, for our podcast episode this week, let’s look back at an event that happens very early in the first book of the Bible. Several chapters into the book of Genesis, after the flood, and during the time of Abraham, who was also known as simply Abram, we find an interesting event where Abram has to rescue his nephew who was taken captive.

To set the stage, Abram and his nephew Lot left their homeland and traveled to the region of Caanan, which God had promised Abram that He would give His descendants. After a number of years and many challenges, Abram and Lot decided it would be better to part ways, one reason being that their servants were not getting along.

Lot decided to move to a lush valley that had some very wicked towns living in it, while Abram stayed in the less fertile mountainous region.

Not too long after Lot had moved into the area, an army came and conquered the cities in the valley and Lot was taken captive. On hearing the bad news, Abram took a small group of his own men and rescued Lot and the other captives. The event we are looking at for our podcast episode happens after this rescue mission.

As I shared in the introduction, our passage is found in the book of Genesis, chapter 14, and we will read from the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 17, we learn that:

¹⁷ Then after his return [referring to Abram] from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). ¹⁸ And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. ¹⁹ He blessed him and said,

“Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
²⁰ And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”

He gave him a tenth of all.

In this short passage, not only to we see one of the origins of the concept of tithing, when Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all that was gained in this rescue mission, but also hinted at in this event is another partial origin for a different celebration, and one that would be celebrated in different ways throughout history.

However, before jumping forward to the New Testament, let’s look briefly at who Melchizedek was. There is no shortage of speculation and mystery surrounding this king of Salem. The Bible itself does not provide many details or clues. Melchizedek only appears by name in three passages. The first is the one we just read; the second is a reference in Psalm 110; and the third place is in the New Testament book of Hebrews, within chapters 5, 6, & 7 that quotes from Psalm 110. Both Psalm 110 and the book of Hebrews draw attention to the priestly order that Melchizedek was a part of as being connected with the Messiah, and that priests within the order of Melchizedek would be priests forever.

In a strange, almost mysterious way, Melchizedek himself seems to point forward to the Messiah, who also came from God, who also showed up at a God appointed time, and who also has origins clouded in mystery. While we know what the Bible has pulled together for us regarding Jesus’ origins when He entered humanity, we know very little about Him prior to this point. Also, those living in the first century prior to the New Testament writers assembling Jesus’ history would have had a difficult time piecing together how Jesus was able to fulfill prophecy while also not appearing to be from any of the expected places.

However, let’s move forward into the New Testament, to the night Jesus would be betrayed and arrested, to a special Passover supper Jesus shared with His disciples. During this meal, which all four gospel writers include, Jesus draws special significance to two elements of this meal.

Let’s read from Matthew’s gospel, to refresh our memory of this special event. Our New Testament passage comes from the gospel of Matthew, chapter 26, and we’ll begin reading in verse 26:

²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” ²⁷ And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; ²⁸ for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. ²⁹ But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

For those familiar with Christianity, the verses we read describe Jesus’ “Last Supper” with His followers. While some people might consider this a stretch to see the connection, I find it fascinating that Melchizedek brings Abram bread and wine to celebrate Abram’s victory with God’s help, and Jesus blesses bread and wine on the night before He would be crucified. During the Last Supper, Jesus draws the attention of the disciples onto how the bread and wine He was blessing and sharing represented His body, blood, and life that He would be giving to them on the cross.

While the Passover itself has lots of foreshadowing pointing forward to the Messiah taking on the sins of the world, one Old Testament root for the last supper can be found hundreds of years before the origins of the Passover within this somewhat mysterious and obscure passage.

Through both the life and actions of Melchizedek and of Jesus the Messiah, we can know that we have a High Priest interceding on our behalf in Heaven, and that for followers of Jesus, this High Priest is Jesus. Jesus is not only our defender, He is also our redeemer. The body, blood, and life Jesus gave on the cross wasn’t just a demonstration of His love for us, even though it is a powerful demonstration of this. The life Jesus gave up on the cross vindicates God of one of the primary charges Satan had accused Him of.

Satan wants people to believe that God’s perfection is impossible to attain, and that only by being perfect will God then choose to love us. Satan would love for everyone to believe that God is counting down the days until He gets to destroy fallen, sinful humanity. This is because God has the rule that the reward for sin is death.

However, Jesus came to pay the penalty for those who have broken God’s law. Jesus giving up His life in death opens up the way for God to prove to the universe that He loves sinners, even though He doesn’t love sin; and that He is willing to forgive those who are willing to accept forgiveness.

Jesus as our High Priest came to bridge the gap that sin caused between Heaven and humanity, and through Jesus, we discover just how far God was willing to go to redeem sinners – which could only happen if He loves them more than Satan would want us to believe.

God loves you and He loves me, and Jesus came to show us this love by becoming our High Priest and ultimately redeeming us.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus. Accept the gift of His sacrifice and let Jesus’ life cover yours. If Satan tries to tempt you into doubting God’s love, remind Him of the cross, and how that proves God loves sinners!

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn, grow, and build a better relationship with Jesus. Through regular prayer and Bible study, we open our hearts to God and we allow Him into our lives to transform us. When we allow Jesus into our hearts and lives, don’t be surprised when our lives begin to reflect Jesus’ life as we move through life with Him.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

If you have ever faced or struggled with worry in your life, the message Jesus shares in our passage for this episode may be a relief for you, or it may challenge you. However, regardless of whether this passage is challenging or it brings relief, Jesus’ message in this passage is both powerful and relevant.

And this teaching, or perhaps just the parable included in the first portion of Jesus’ teaching, is shared because of a request from someone in the crowd listening to Jesus. Let’s read what happened.

Our passage for this episode is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 12, and we will read from the New American Standard Bible. Starting in verse 12, Luke tells us:

¹³ Someone in the crowd said to Him [referring to Jesus], “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” ¹⁴ But He said to him, “Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵ Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”

Pausing reading for a moment, Jesus’ words here are powerful, and if you highlight statements in your Bible, this last message is worth highlighting because it is worth remembering. While we intellectually grasp the idea that our lives don’t consist of our possessions, almost every message we will receive from culture, from advertising, and from social media will try to define the value of our lives as being based on what we have, what we don’t have, and what we supposedly need.

However, even with everything, our lives are distinctly different from our possessions. From Jesus’ warning about greed, I wonder if greed in our lives is at the foundation of seeing our worth as been the sum of what we own and what we have.

Let’s read Jesus’ warning again, and then continue into the parable He shares as a follow-up illustration. Reading from verse 15, Jesus said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”

¹⁶ And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. ¹⁷ And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ ²¹ So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Pausing our reading again, this parable is powerful every time I read it. While some people might read this parable as God judging and killing this man for being greedy and not generous, the big truth in this passage comes from the rhetorical question God asks this man at the end of this parable. Summarizing God’s question, He basically asks this man what all the savings and value the wealth he had stored up will do for him once he is dead. After this man is dead, he cannot take what he has stored with him beyond the grave.

This means that regardless of how much we store and save in this life, when we die, the result is the same: Someone else will get everything we saved.

The implication is that we can choose how to use our wealth while we are alive, but how our wealth is used after we are gone is completely up to others. Even with a will, it is up to other people whether they will honor our last wishes or not. By being generous with our money when we are alive, we get to experience the joy that comes with giving because we can see how our gifts are able to benefit others.

However, Jesus isn’t finished sharing. Continuing in verse 22:

²² And He said to His disciples, “For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ²⁴ Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! ²⁵ And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span? ²⁶ If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters? ²⁷ Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. ²⁸ But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith! ²⁹ And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. ³⁰ For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. ³¹ But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you. ³² Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.

³³ “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

In this big teaching about how useless it is to worry, Jesus makes a powerful statement at the end of this message. In verse 34, Jesus tells everyone living at every point in history: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Where we have placed our treasure, we have also placed our hearts. When we give money away to help others, we have the amazing opportunity of storing up treasure in heaven. Our intentional generosity is never lost, even when we do everything we can to be anonymous.

When we give up our possessions and give money to help others, we rob greed of its power. Greed is powerful in our lives when our focus is placed on what we own. When we shift our focus onto selling, giving, and focusing on helping others, greed is robbed of its power in our lives.

However, the biggest benefit of choosing a life of generosity isn’t the removal of greed, or the storing of our treasure in heaven. Instead, the biggest benefit of living a generous life of service to others is that our hearts will be stored in the same place where our treasure is, and when our treasure is stored in heaven, our hearts will be there as well!

God desires your heart and mine. When we live lives focused on serving God, helping others, and storing our treasure in heaven, God gets our hearts as well – and God is the only one who is able to restore a sin-stained heart. God solved the sin problem through Jesus, and He is willing to solve our personal sin problem when we give our hearts to Him!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to live a life of generosity and service in order to store up treasures in heaven! Trust in what God has given to us through Jesus and His sacrifice and live a life of gratitude, giving thanks to God for everything He has blessed us with!

Also, always continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself. Through personal prayer and Bible study, strengthen your relationship with God and discover what He wants to teach you personally through His Word. While others people have ideas and opinions, God wants to speak through the Bible to you personally!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!