Reflective Bible Study

As Jesus begins His public ministry, we arrive at another fulfilled prophecy from the Old Testament. This particular prophecy is fascinating in my mind, and part of me is a little surprised that it doesn’t get much attention. Overall, this prophecy is a little easy to skim over, but when we decide to do this, we miss being reminded of an amazing aspect of God’s character.

The prophecy we will be focusing in on is found early on in the book of Isaiah, specifically in the first part of chapter 9. For our podcast time together, we will read it using the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 1, Isaiah the prophet writes:

¹ But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.

² The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.
³ You shall multiply the nation,
You shall increase their gladness;
They will be glad in Your presence
As with the gladness of harvest,
As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
⁴ For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders,
The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.
⁵ For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult,
And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.
⁶ For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

In these seven verses, we have one of the most amazing pictures of the Messiah in the entire Bible. Not only does this prophecy begin with the Messiah being sent to a region known for being heavily populated with Gentiles, which is simply a descriptive catch-all word to describe those who are not Jewish, but this prophecy ends with the Messiah setting up His kingdom, which will have no end.

Reading this prophecy, and how it is framed helps us understand how those living in the first century could see the Messiah coming with military strength, and ultimately launching a successful attack against the Romans. This is because tucked within the middle of this passage is language that suggests the One God sends successfully freeing God’s people from those who oppress them.

However, when we move into the New Testament, it is interesting that at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, He steps into the first portion of this prophecy to fulfill it. In Matthew’s gospel, chapter 4, starting in verse 12, we learn that:

¹² [Now] when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; ¹³ and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. ¹⁴ This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:

¹⁵ “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
¹⁶ “The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light,
And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death,
Upon them a Light dawned.”

Here at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry on earth, after He had been baptized and had spent time in the wilderness being tempted, we discover that Jesus stepped directly into fulfilling this prophecy by initially settling in Capernaum, which was within the region of Galilee. It is interesting in my mind that this prophecy specifically describes Galilee as being a region of Gentiles, rather than being a region of Jews. While Galilee was technically within Israel’s borders, or at least the borders that were established when Moses and Joshua brought the people of Israel to this region, over the centuries between that point and when Jesus walked the earth, politics had isolated this region away from the rest of Israel.

We know this because Samaria, which was also technically within Israel’s borders, was shunned and looked down on by the Jews. While we don’t have time to dig into the reasons for this in our time together, the prejudice against those living in Samaria was so strong that most every Jew would travel a much longer road around Samaria, rather than go through it. This longer road would logically isolate Galilee in the north, from Jerusalem and the other Jewish territories in the south. This isolation would also logically attract a greater number of non-Jews, or in other words, Gentiles.

While in other places and at later points in Jesus’ ministry, we find pushback against Jesus for being from Nazareth, which wasn’t very far away from Capernaum, the detail that Jesus began His ministry here and that this was prophesied about centuries earlier is incredible. I wouldn’t be surprised if many of the religious leaders knew this detail, but that they pushed it aside because it didn’t fit with the picture of the Messiah that they had created. The religious leaders at that time had a picture that was more in line with the middle and last portions of the prophecy we read, and I suspect that they skimmed over the first part which was less interesting.

However, for us living today, the first portion of this prophecy is powerful. Not only do we see Jesus fulfill the first part of this prophecy in how He begins His ministry, we see a powerful picture of God’s character as well.

In this prophecy, we see God stepping into history, and into a place that is described as being in darkness. Jesus came as a light that shines in the darkness. While it would be understandable if Jesus stepped into earth’s history into a place filled with people who were expecting Him, this is not what happened. Instead, Jesus begins in a place where most of those present were not actively looking for Him. Jesus came to a group of people who may have felt isolated through no direct fault of their own.

As a representative of God, Jesus teaches us that God is willing to come to those who feel isolated, abandoned, or outcast. Jesus came to a people who were not religious in the typical sense of the word. Jesus began His ministry among those who needed God’s light, God’s love, and God’s encouragement, and amazingly, many of Jesus’ disciples were people who lived within this place.

If you have felt distant, alone, abandoned, or in need of God’s light, love, and/or encouragement, then let’s take this prophecy as Jesus fulfilled it. Jesus came to people who felt like this, and Jesus called people who appeared to be the least religious.

Jesus loves those who society has rejected. Jesus loves those who are abandoned. And Jesus invites those who the world has given up on to come follow Him, and let Him transform them into the people He sees.

Jesus is calling you and me to follow Him. While our world is significantly different than the first century world, Jesus is interested in us as followers, because when we ally and align our lives with His, we can grow into being the people God created us to be at the point in history where He placed us in to live. While we might not get all our questions answered on this side of heaven, we can know and trust that God has a reason for giving us breath, and that with Him, we will be able to discover it as we move forward through life!

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 ally your life with His in order to grow into being the person He created you to be. Move forward each day with God and let Him lead and guide you along the path He created you to walk.

As we move forward with God, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with Him. While other people can give you things to think about and ideas worth considering, take what you read, hear, and see to the truth found in the Bible. Through the pages of the Bible, discover God’s big picture of History, and how everything centers around God’s love for sinful, fallen humanity. Let Jesus redeem you and invite you into a relationship with Him that can begin today, and that will extend into eternity.

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 deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we continue reading Luke’s gospel, we come to an event that may be in the other gospels, or it may not be. From the details, it is difficult to be certain. This is because one of the big details of this event is found in the other three gospels, but that is about the only thing this event shares. The events in Matthew, Mark, and John almost certainly describe the same event, but Luke’s version takes a completely different direction.

The event in question is when a woman comes and anoints Jesus’ feet shortly before His crucifixion. While the other three gospels place this event near the cross, Luke places a very similar sounding event early on in Jesus’ ministry and Luke draws our attention onto a very different set of details from this event which prompts me to lean towards the event in Luke being a different event than the other gospels.

Let’s read what happened and discover what we can learn from Luke’s gospel describing Jesus’ feet being anointed. Our passage is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 7, and we will read from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 36, Luke tells us:

³⁶ When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. ³⁷ A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. ³⁸ As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

³⁹ When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

⁴⁰ Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

⁴¹ “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴² Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

⁴³ Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

⁴⁴ Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵ You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶ You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. ⁴⁷ Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

⁴⁹ The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

⁵⁰ Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

One of the big reasons I see this event being a separate event from the event Matthew, Mark, and John include is that nothing is even hinted at in Jesus’ response about the woman’s gift preparing Him for burial. Instead, the big context of Luke’s version of this event teaches on forgiveness, and on how we shouldn’t judge others. It also isn’t a great stretch in my mind to think that two different women would want to honor Jesus by pouring perfume on Him.

It also isn’t a stretch in my mind to think that Jesus visited Simon’s home more than one time either.

However, it also isn’t difficult for me to think that this was one event and Luke’s gospel focused on one theme Jesus wanted us to learn from this event, while the other gospel writers use this event to foreshadow Jesus’ death, burial, and to give context for Judas deciding to be the betrayer.

With that said, what can we learn from Luke’s unique details?

As I shared earlier, Luke’s version of this event focuses on how it is unwise for us to judge or look down on others, and to emphasize forgiveness. While we don’t know what prompted Simon the Pharisee to invite Jesus to his home, if this is the same Simon of the other gospels, Matthew and Mark describe him as a leper, implying that Jesus cured him of his leprosy.

If this is the same Simon, then it is interesting to see his response when the woman comes and pours the perfume on Jesus’ feet. The first thing we see Simon do is subtly judge or look down on Jesus because of His interaction with this woman. Verse 39 describes this by saying Simon said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

While more people than just Simon appeared to look down on this gift, or a gift very similar to this as the other gospel writers emphasize, Simon’s first angle of judging is judging Jesus by association.

Judging someone by association is something that is common in this culture, and while there is a level of validity in thinking this way, Luke’s event and Jesus’ counter message to Simon push back saying that context matters.

The reason we know context matters is God associates with sinners. Jesus came into this world because God loves sinners. While God doesn’t love the sin, that isn’t going to stop Him from seeking out the sinner.

While it is a cliché to say that God loves the sinner but He hates the sin, this is true. However, too often, this phrase is shared is a less than ideal way, or it is heard in a judgmental way. It is entirely possible for someone to hear this phrase and think “God will only love me when I don’t sin”.

This phrase, while easy to remember and share, has another angle where it is challenging. In our world today, though perhaps this has been the case for every generation and culture in history, a person’s actions gets connected with their identity. We see this most clearly and innocently when we identify a person with their occupation, such as a builder, a baker, or an engineer. It also extends to physical attributes, like having long or short hair, black or blonde hair, being shorter or tall, being of a certain ethnicity, and other things like this. A person’s occupation and physical characteristics becomes a part of what identifies them.

However, it doesn’t stop there, if a person has a tendency to act a certain way, then that could become a part of their identity as well. This could include lying, stealing, bullying, or a host of other negative characteristics. If a person has accepted and views their identity as being simply what they do, then if what they do is considered a sin, saying that God loves sinners but hates the sin sounds just as judgmental as simply saying God hates those who sin. For many people, the identity of a sinner is wrapped up in the sin because our identities are most often focused on what we do.

What is rarely ever acknowledged in this phrase, while it really should be is that God sees everyone as being infinitely more than what they do or how they look. God looks past your physical characteristics, past your genes, and past your actions and He sees a child of God – or in other words, someone He helped create! God loves you regardless of who you are or what you do. However, God is never going to join you in doing something He would consider sinful.

The other angle of this theme of forgiveness is that forgiveness erases the debt imbalance. If two people have sins in their lives, and one person’s sins are significantly greater in number than the other person’s sins, forgiveness erases the debt and they are on the exact same level. Both debts have been erased. When God forgives our sin, it is like He erases our debt and all that is left is the essence of who we are that He loves. What we do, what we look like, or what is in our genes is not relevant when discussing God’s love.

Jesus assured this woman that her sins were forgiven, because He wanted her to move forward in a new life with God without the cloud of her past weighing her down. Jesus wants us to know that God has forgiven us because He wants us to begin or continue our lives with Him without the sins of our past weighing us down. God wants to redeem us out of sin and into new, eternal lives, with 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, continue seeking God first and know that when God looks at you, He loves who He sees you as over who you see yourself as. God sees you through His eyes, and His eyes look past the sin you have wrapped up into your identity. God’s desire is to help you see you as He sees you, and to fall in love with Him like He has fallen in love with you!

Discover who God really is by praying and studying the Bible for yourself. In the pages of the Bible, discover just how much God loves you. Don’t let anyone get between you and God because God wants a personal relationship with you, and for a relationship to be personal, it doesn’t include other people.

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 let yourself be tricked into leaving where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we continue moving forward on our journey through prophecies Jesus fulfilled, we come to an Old Testament reference that could be said to point towards Jesus, though, in the context that it is used, I could easily understand how some might doubt this.

However, when we stop to look more closely at the words that were written, it is clear that even if these words were not used in the New Testament event we will look at as prophecy being fulfilled, the context these words are used only allows for these words to be prophecy for the event itself to make sense.

With that as our foundation, let’s take a look at the Psalm that is quoted, and discover why this message is important for us to pay attention to. Our passage is found in Psalm 91, and we will read it using the New American Standard Bible. Starting in verse 1, the psalmist writes:

¹ He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!”
³ For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
And from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

⁵ You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day;
⁶ Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
⁷ A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But it shall not approach you.
⁸ You will only look on with your eyes
And see the recompense of the wicked.
⁹ For you have made the Lord, my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
¹⁰ No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent.

¹¹ For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
¹² They will bear you up in their hands,
That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.

¹⁴ “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
¹⁵ “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
¹⁶ “With a long life I will satisfy him
And let him see My salvation.”

On the surface, nothing in this psalm speaks directly to these words being prophetic. At its core, this psalm is simply a prayer of encouragement, and a reminder, that God is with those who take refuge in Him.

However, one set of lines in this psalm show up in Jesus’ life in a powerful way, and when looking at when they show up, and specifically who speaks them, we are left with the impression that this psalm was at least applicable to Jesus and His mission to this earth.

With this in mind, let’s transition to the New Testament and discover what we can learn from the event where these words show up. This event is found in Luke, chapter 4, and we will begin reading in verse 1:

¹ Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness ² for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. ³ And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” ⁴ And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”

⁵ And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶ And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. ⁷ Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.” ⁸ Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”

⁹ And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; ¹⁰ for it is written,

‘He will command His angels concerning You to guard You,’

¹¹ and,

‘On their hands they will bear You up,
So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”

¹² And Jesus answered and said to him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

¹³ When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.

In the temptations that Satan, also known as the devil, brought against Jesus, we find Satan quoting this particular psalm. The minor detail that Satan used scripture to tempt Jesus is fascinating in itself. However, the promise of protection that this psalm speaks to is amazing.

It is interesting that in essence, Satan turns this psalm into being prophetic, or at least he tries to. While I don’t know the extent of how we should understand the protection that is promised or looked for in this psalm, Jesus’ life and ministry were not 100% protected.

I have no idea whether Jesus ever got sick like we might consider sickness, or whether Jesus ever stubbed His toe, which could be thought of in a similar way as striking your foot against a stone.

However, when we look at Jesus’ life and ministry, there was clearly some level of protection present, but the protection we see present in Jesus’ life was protection on a macro scale, or in other words, protection from the highest level.

We can know and understand that Jesus’ life was protected during the time leading up to the cross, because there are plenty of examples of people trying to take Jesus’ life before crucifixion weekend. Three examples of this that jump to mind are Herod killing the babies, which we looked at earlier this year; those in the Nazareth synagogue early in Jesus’ ministry when they try to run Him off a cliff; and Satan himself when the flash storm hits the boat while Jesus slept in the back. While I am sure there are other examples, these three are clear indicators that Jesus was being protected.

However, the protection that we see present in Jesus’ life did not extend to protection that didn’t allow for problems to be present. On more occasions than we have time to go over, Jesus’ pushed back against His mission and ministry being undermined by the popular culture’s opinion of what Jesus’ ministry should have been. If Jesus was being protected from problems, then we wouldn’t have the passage we just read, because Jesus wouldn’t have gone in to the wilderness, wouldn’t have fasted for 40 days, wouldn’t have became hungry, and definitely wouldn’t have been tempted by Satan.

We can learn from this psalm and how it applies to Jesus’ life that in our own lives, we won’t be spared from experiencing problems, trials, or challenges. However, when we lean on Jesus and focus on giving Him glory while moving forward through life, we can know that with whatever happens in our lives on this earth, our eternity has been assured, and our eternal life has been protected.

Jesus ultimately faced the cross so that we wouldn’t have to face it ourselves. Jesus gave up His own life at the time the crucifixion was prophesied. Jesus didn’t shy away from challenges. Let’s learn from Jesus’ example and press forward in life, living it for God!

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. Choose to lean on Him for strength, purpose, and guidance to live in this life, and trust in Jesus that when we live for God, our future, eternal lives are protected. When we ally with Jesus, Jesus has promised us that our eternal lives are protected.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God. Through the pages of the Bible, discover a God who loves you more than you can imagine and a God who will not stop trying to redeem you while you still have breath!

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!

Continuing moving through Luke’s gospel detailing Jesus’ life and miracles, we arrive at an event that only Luke included. However, far from being insignificant, this event and miracle might be one of the most significant miracles Jesus did prior to raising Lazarus from the dead and prior to His own resurrection. If Jesus had simply been a good healer in people’s minds before, this miracle would be enough to elevate their thinking.

Let’s read our passage and discover what happened. Our passage is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 7, and we will read from the New International Reader’s Version. Starting in verse 11, Luke tells us that:

¹¹ Some time later, Jesus went to a town called Nain. His disciples and a large crowd went along with him. ¹² He approached the town gate. Just then, a dead person was being carried out. He was the only son of his mother. She was a widow. A large crowd from the town was with her. ¹³ When the Lord saw her, he felt sorry for her. So he said, “Don’t cry.”

¹⁴ Then he went up and touched the coffin. Those carrying it stood still. Jesus said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” ¹⁵ The dead man sat up and began to talk. Then Jesus gave him back to his mother.

¹⁶ The people were all filled with wonder and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” ¹⁷ This news about Jesus spread all through Judea and the whole country.

In all the gospels, this event might be one of the most amazing miracles Jesus ever did. When reading this event, in my mind, it is worth looking for the faith behind this miracle and the reason Jesus chose to do it.

From the many miracles Jesus did healing people, in most cases we see a clear picture of where the faith came from. In many cases, the faith was from the one who was healed, and on several occasions, the faith necessary wasn’t from the one healed, but from those who brought the person to be healed.

However, in this event, we don’t find any evidence of faith present from any of the disciples or any in the funeral procession. Prior to this miracle, Jesus had not resurrected someone from the dead before, so there was no precedent.

Instead, the key phrase is found in verse 13, where Luke tells us, “When the Lord saw her, he felt sorry for her.” This statement not only shows us a glimpse of Jesus’ heart, it also directs us to this being a miracle Jesus did because He wanted to help someone who was hurting. If faith is necessary for a miracle, then the faith needed for this miracle came from Jesus Himself!

I cannot imagine a more special reunion than between the widow and her only son.

Looking at the details surrounding this miracle, I cannot escape a similarity between those present in this circumstance, and God. While God the Father is not a widow in any way this word is used, this event mirrors the emotion that would likely be present in heaven when Jesus, the Son, died on the cross. Even knowing that resurrection would happen less than 48 hours later wouldn’t change the feelings one would have if they were 100% focused on the present moment.

God knew the pain this widow was facing, and while they all could look forward to the future resurrection when Jesus returns, God’s heart reaches out to this widow who is facing emotional pain greater than most people know. However, God understands this widow’s pain and Jesus wants to turn her pain into joy! Jesus resurrects this child in advance of the resurrection that would happen when He returns because He wants this woman to experience joy and to know that God had not forgotten or turned His back on her.

I believe turning this sadness into joy is one of the big reasons Jesus did this miracle. In a subtle way, this miracle foreshadows Jesus’ own resurrection as a Son who dies before their parent who is ultimately resurrected. God wants to turn sadness into joy.

Another reason Jesus likely did this miracle was because the response He knew those present would give. In this passage, Jesus does not get the glory for this miracle. Instead, Jesus has the awkward role of stopping a funeral procession, telling a mourning widow not to cry, and then talking to a dead boy. Following the miracle, Luke tells us in verse 16 that, “The people were all filled with wonder and praised God.”

Jesus did not get the credit for this miracle, at least not initially. Instead, this miracle prompted people to praise God. When reading the gospels, miracles that prompt people to praise God are easy to find. It is as though this is one other big reason Jesus did miracles.

Sometimes I wonder if Jesus did these God-praising miracles because He wanted the people to realize that God was not like the religious leaders present in the first century. While the religious leaders should have been a group of people working together to represent God to their broader culture and community, the picture they were painting of God was far from loving. Jesus came to show us what God is like, and helping people praise the Father likely brought joy to Jesus’ heart!

This idea is summarized in the response those present give at the end of verse 16. Luke tells us that these people exclaim that, “God has come to help his people.” The implication is that, prior to this miracle, these people were feeling forgotten by God. While it is easy to fall into the trap believing that God has forgotten us here on this planet, nothing could be further from the truth.

Instead, if we don’t see God actively working in the world today, this means not that God has abandoned us, but that He is instead working behind the scenes directing history to its ultimate conclusion, which could be summarized as Jesus’ return, the end of sin, and the recreation of earth.

Satan would love for humanity to forget God and to openly reject anything that would suggest His existence. However, when we open our eyes to the world around us, there are too many pieces of evidence to reject a Creator, and more than enough evidence that points towards God being our Creator, and Jesus’ mission to earth was a mission to redeem us from a sin-tainted, sin-filled world.

Everything Jesus predicted would happen in His ministry happened exactly like He said it would, including His death and resurrection. This gives us the assurance that even if Jesus’ return feels like it has been delayed, a postponed trip is not a cancelled trip. We can know and be assured that just like Jesus’ predictions of His earthly ministry took place exactly like He predicted, Jesus’ return will happen at the exact moment in time that it needs to for us to be assured that sin will never reappear in the newly recreated universe!

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, continue intentionally seeking God first in your life and choose to trust in Jesus’ working in the world today, even if we cannot see it clearly. Trust that when God appears absent, He is instead working behind the scenes drawing history towards its conclusion.

While we wait for Jesus to return, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn what God is really like and to open your heart to Jesus. Through the pages of the Bible, discover just how much God was willing to give and how far Jesus was willing to go to open the way for you and I to be redeemed and saved from sin! Discover in the pages of the Bible what God means when He is described as being love!

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!