Reflective Bible Study

If you have ever wondered what was going on in the minds of Jesus’ early followers, or if you have ever questioned whether it was a good idea to follow Jesus, the event we will focus on in this podcast episode may help. As we continue our journey through Jesus’ life, we arrive at a set of passages where Jesus invites some of His closest and most well known disciples to be disciples.

However, while the event we are looking at can be found in three of the four gospels, in the case of Matthew and Mark’s version of this event, we are left to wonder exactly what was so special about Jesus that caused four fishermen to abandon their careers to follow Jesus.

To help us understand Matthew and Mark’s perspective, which are both very similar, let’s read Matthew’s version of this event. This event can be found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 4, starting in verse 18. Reading from the New Century Version, Matthew sets the stage for us by saying:

¹⁸ As Jesus was walking by Lake Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (called Peter) and his brother Andrew. They were throwing a net into the lake because they were fishermen. ¹⁹ Jesus said, “Come follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” ²⁰ So Simon and Andrew immediately left their nets and followed him.

²¹ As Jesus continued walking by Lake Galilee, he saw two other brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. Jesus told them to come with him.²² Immediately they left the boat and their father, and they followed Jesus.

After finishing this passage, I might be tempted to finish this episode early with the big theme: “When Jesus calls, follow Him”, but while this is a good theme present in this passage, for some of us – or maybe it is just me –, the idea of following Jesus “because He asked” isn’t a good enough reason to follow. Remember, this is before most of the miracles, before the fame, before Jesus has hundreds of people asking to follow Him. This would be like a traveling homeless speaker asking you to leave your job and maybe even your family too and travel with him without any promise of fame or money. The only promise present in this passage is the play on words that Jesus would teach them how to fish for people rather than fish.

Luke must have read Matthew or Mark’s gospel and told himself that this event didn’t add up, so he went and did a little more digging to find out what else must have happened. In Luke’s gospel, we are able to read what some might call, “The rest of the story.”

For this reason, let’s focus on what Luke’s gospel tells us about this event for the rest of our podcast episode. In Luke’s gospel, chapter 5, starting in verse 1, Luke tells us that:

¹ One day while Jesus was standing beside Lake Galilee, many people were pressing all around him to hear the word of God. ² Jesus saw two boats at the shore of the lake. The fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. ³ Jesus got into one of the boats, the one that belonged to Simon, and asked him to push off a little from the land. Then Jesus sat down and continued to teach the people from the boat.

⁴ When Jesus had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Take the boat into deep water, and put your nets in the water to catch some fish.”

⁵ Simon answered, “Master, we worked hard all night trying to catch fish, and we caught nothing. But you say to put the nets in the water, so I will.” ⁶ When the fishermen did as Jesus told them, they caught so many fish that the nets began to break. ⁷ They called to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats so full that they were almost sinking.

⁸ When Simon Peter saw what had happened, he bowed down before Jesus and said, “Go away from me, Lord. I am a sinful man!” ⁹ He and the other fishermen were amazed at the many fish they caught, as were ¹⁰ James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will fish for people.” ¹¹ When the men brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed Jesus.

There are so many amazing details in Luke’s gospel that part of me is surprised that Matthew and Mark shortened this event. I suspect that Mark and Matthew didn’t include the miracle because they both wanted to keep the focus on Jesus and minimize these early followers following Jesus simply because He gave them a miracle. After all, not everyone will be given a miracle when they are invited to follow Jesus.

Part of me wonders if Matthew and Mark shorten this event because they wanted to focus on a different aspect of Jesus’ ministry, and not on how Jesus called each of them. In reality, there is not much space given in any of the gospels to the details of how many of the original twelve disciples were called. All we have in some of the gospels is a list of the ones who were included.

Jesus calling you or I likely won’t be as impressive as hitting the jackpot with a catch of fish. It is likely that Matthew and Mark omit these details to help us more easily relate to how Jesus usually calls people to follow Him.

But Luke knows that Theophilus, the person he is writing to, probably won’t buy into the simplistic nature of how these most famous disciples were called. So he does some digging, and uncovers an amazing story surrounding how Jesus interacted with these four fishermen before calling them to follow.

While reading Luke’s version of this event, one verse and statement stood out to me. In Luke, chapter 5, verse 5, we discover a glimpse of faith in Peter. Up to this point, Jesus is simply another Rabbi, or spiritual teacher, to Simon Peter. No miracles had yet taken place, but this is how Simon Peter responds to Jesus: “Master [referring to Jesus], we worked hard all night trying to catch fish, and we caught nothing. But you say to put the nets in the water, so I will.”

Peter and the other fishermen probably had just finished cleaning their nets when Jesus finished His sermon and made this request, and the fishermen were likely tired and probably ready to head home and to bed after the long night. But Simon Peter is willing to test this new preacher out. We don’t have any idea what Jesus taught that morning while Simon Peter and the others were cleaning their nets, but it was enough of something that gave Simon Peter the courage to test Jesus. Perhaps he had faith that fish would come, or perhaps he thought to himself that after the nets come up empty again, he will politely tell Jesus to stick to preaching and let him stick to fishing.

What mattered in this event was that He obeyed; that He tested Jesus’ instructions by trying them out.

In my life, I have rarely been able to analyze my way into understanding some of the things that Jesus taught. More often, what has helped my faith is testing Jesus’ words by living them out. After several days or perhaps even a week of living in semi-blind obedience, I ask myself if my life looks any different. Is my life better, worse, or the same?

Only if my life is worse do I reconsider or analyze further. If it is better, it is pretty clear to keep obeying. If nothing changed, which is often what I feel like happens, I conclude that perhaps I have not lived long enough to see a difference and there is no harm in continuing.

I suspect some people might think this is a too simplistic view of following Jesus, but personal experience trumps intellectual theory every day they compete. While I could sit on the sidelines and watch others live lives of faith, only by living a faith-filled life myself will I ever truly discover for myself whether God’s way is best! If all of us together truly followed Jesus, modeling our lives after His, using His methods, and loving those He loved, I am positive our world would never be the same.

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 place God first in your life. Choose to test Jesus’ words and teaching for yourself to discover just who God is and how much He wants for you!

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself in order to learn more about Jesus and God. While other people have ideas and opinions, only when you open the pages to read the Bible can you discover what God wants you to learn about Him and His plan!

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!

While Jesus had the reputation for being a great teacher, and as Someone who could heal pretty much anything, early on in Jesus’ ministry, before word had spread about this, we find a powerful event in John’s gospel that when we look at the details, this event might just be an example for us to follow.

For time together in this episode, we’ll be reading from the gospel of John, chapter 4, out of the New Century Version. Starting in verse 46, John tells us that:

⁴⁶ Jesus went again to visit Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. One of the king’s important officers lived in the city of Capernaum, and his son was sick. ⁴⁷ When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to Jesus and begged him to come to Capernaum and heal his son, because his son was almost dead. ⁴⁸ Jesus said to him, “You people must see signs and miracles before you will believe in me.”

⁴⁹ The officer said, “Sir, come before my child dies.”

⁵⁰ Jesus answered, “Go. Your son will live.”

The man believed what Jesus told him and went home. ⁵¹ On the way the man’s servants came and met him and told him, “Your son is alive.”

⁵² The man asked, “What time did my son begin to get well?”

They answered, “Yesterday at one o’clock the fever left him.”

⁵³ The father knew that one o’clock was the exact time that Jesus had said, “Your son will live.” So the man and all the people who lived in his house believed in Jesus.

⁵⁴ That was the second miracle Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.

I want to emphasize that last verse. This was only the second miracle Jesus had done after coming from Judea to Galilee. The first was turning water into wine – and though the water-wine miracle is impressive, it is nothing like healing someone who is about to die.

Perhaps Jesus had healed other people in Judea, and word had spread into Galilee about these healings and to the ears of this official. Regardless of the way news traveled, or even how this official knew to come to Jesus early on in Jesus’ ministry, the dialog between the official and Jesus is important for us to pay attention to.

John doesn’t tell us the official’s exact words, but his clear request in verse 47 was for Jesus to “come to Capernaum and heal his son, because his son was almost dead.” It is significant to note that this official came personally, instead of simply sending a servant or messenger with the request. This detail emphasizes that the official believed his request was too important to leave with a servant.

However, Jesus’ response is interesting. In verse 48, Jesus replies by saying, “You people must see signs and miracles before you will believe in me.” This response sounds odd in my mind. The official is asking for help with a clearly urgent need, and Jesus responds with a statement about belief. However, the reason Jesus answered the way He did was because the request was for Jesus to go to the place where the child was.

We don’t know if the officer had doubts in his mind or if he wanted to witness a miracle though this event, but with the way Jesus responds, it is logical to conclude that this may have been the case – that is, unless Jesus said what He said not for the man’s benefit, but for the disciples and those present following Jesus. Perhaps this response was aimed at pushing the crowd following Jesus and not as much at the official himself.

But in the official’s second request, we see persistence. Verse 49 tells us the official again asks Jesus, “Sir, come before my child dies.”

This persistence might be wise for us to model in our own lives. If God hasn’t appeared to answer a request the first time we ask it, perhaps we need to keep praying and pushing forward with our request moving forward.

Jesus’ second answer is powerful. While He doesn’t comply with the official’s actual request, He does challenge the official in a way that satisfies this father’s request for help. Up to this point in the requests and conversation, the emphasis has been on Jesus going personally to perform the miracle, but Jesus’ second response in verse 50 is simply, “Go. Your son will live.”

This answer satisfies the official, even if it doesn’t comply with his request, and John tells us that “The man believed what Jesus told him and went home.”

On the way, the official learns that his son has recovered, and that it happened at the exact time of his conversation with Jesus. This event concludes in verse 53 by saying, “So the man and all the people who lived in his house believed in Jesus.”

It is important to note that the official and everyone described in this last verse believed in Jesus, not because they had seen Jesus perform a miracle, but they believed in Jesus because of the promise Jesus had given the official. Someone skeptical of this event might dismiss this as a coincidence, but to everyone present in this event, Jesus’ promise about the official’s son living, which the official believed at face value, resulted in a long-distance miracle and a healed boy.

In our own lives, I wonder if John included this miracle as a way of challenging those who would read about this miracle to take Jesus’ promises at face value and believe Jesus’ words regardless of whether we see any change immediately. This may also be included as a challenge to bring our miracle requests to Jesus in prayer and believe that He will answer them even if we don’t see Him actively moving towards the situation.

This event includes a challenge for all of us about where our belief should be grounded. Jesus challenged those present on the idea that “seeing is believing”. Jesus and the official demonstrated a different approach: The official believed Jesus, and then afterwards, he saw the results of his belief. The official demonstrates a “believing before seeing” approach to faith.

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

As you are living your life, choose to believe God’s promises and Jesus’ words before you experience them personally. In some cases, you may need to obey before you see, similar to how this official had to obey Jesus on faith and start his homeward journey without Jesus with him. Choose to trust God’s promises and expect to see an answer to your prayers when God’s timing is right. He knows much more than we do about the events in our lives and what the future holds, and it makes the most sense to trust Him with the timing of our prayer answers.

Also, as you pray, read, and study the Bible personally, look for examples of events that demonstrate a believing before seeing approach to faith. There are many more examples than this one event, and as a collection, we learn how to grow spiritually with God and the Holy Spirit leading and guiding us.

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 doubt your way out of where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we continue moving through Jesus’ life and the events the four gospels include, we arrive at an event where a group of people hear some information that seems unbelievable. If you have ever been told something you had a difficult time believing, you might be amazed to discover what we can learn within this event.

The event we will be focusing on in this episode is the story of the Samaritan woman who came to the well. This event can be found in John 4:1-45. All throughout this event, those present have their minds stretched, and for our time together, I want to focus our attention onto three specific groups of people. If you are not familiar with this event, I suggest looking up this event the next chance you get. Unfortunately, the passage is quite long and if we were to read everything that happened, our episode would stretch out much longer than I’d like it to.

In this event, two of the three groups of people are usually focused on when reading this event, while the third group is often overlooked. Because of this, I will summarize the first two groups before we focus specifically on the last group – the one that is the most overlooked.

The first group who had their mind stretched was a group of one – the woman who came to the well. A few things to note about this event is that she was alone with Jesus, since He had sent the disciples into town, and that this was the middle of the day, which was the least desirable time to go out to get water.

From these two details mixed with what we learn about the woman later on in the conversation, I suspect this woman probably would have bailed on her water gathering trip if all the disciples had been present. In my mind’s eye, Jesus probably sat just out of view and His request startled her to the fact that anyone was even there. We might conclude that since she had gone to get water at the least ideal time, she preferred to not be around other people.

As the conversation progresses, Jesus slowly opens her mind to the truth of who He is. If Jesus introduced Himself by saying, “I am the Messiah, now would you get me a drink?” I believe the woman would have simply turned and walked away. She likely believed that the Messiah, the One who would save Israel, would never talk to her. She may have believed herself to be the most rejected person in society.

However, Jesus did want to break through her preconceived ideas, and the only way for Him to get through to her was to slowly lead the conversation further. At each step in Jesus’ conversation with her, He stretches her mind, until at the end of the conversation, Jesus reveals who He is – and it is one of the only places where Jesus directly states to anyone that He is the promised Messiah.

The next group of people who have their minds stretched are the disciples. Here is a group of Jews, outside of a town in Samaria, who Jesus asks to go and get supplies. From a cultural standpoint, the Jews hated the Samaritans, and because of this, the Samaritans didn’t really like the Jews either. The first thing that stretches the disciples’ minds is the act of going into an unknown, and perhaps even an unfriendly, town.

Next, their minds are stretched when they return and find Jesus talking with a woman. In the first century culture, this woman was the lowest on the “gender” class because she was a woman, the “ethnic” class because she was a Samaritan, and the “social” class because she was there alone in the middle of the day, which is something that only social outcasts would do. Regular people would at least bring a friend for conversation and perhaps protection.

Seeing Jesus talking to this woman, and at the point of their arrival, noting that it was a very candid conversation about her past, and specifically who He was, would have been enough to stretch their minds.

However, what happens after this woman leaves and the disciples return is what I want to focus on in this episode. Let’s read what happened after the woman left to go back into town. Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 4, and we will read from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. While we have summarized the first portion of this event, jumping into the passage in verse 31, John tells us that:

³¹ In the meantime the disciples kept urging Him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

³² But He said, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”

³³ The disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought Him something to eat?”

³⁴ “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work,” Jesus told them. ³⁵ “Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ready for harvest. ³⁶ The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so the sower and reaper can rejoice together. ³⁷ For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ ³⁸ I sent you to reap what you didn’t labor for; others have labored, and you have benefited from their labor.”

³⁹ Now many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of what the woman said when she testified, “He told me everything I ever did.” ⁴⁰ Therefore, when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. ⁴¹ Many more believed because of what He said. ⁴² And they told the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world.”

⁴³ After two days He left there for Galilee.

In this conclusion to our passage, we read that the disciples’ minds were not done being stretched. Jesus then tells them that He has food that they don’t know of. Jesus is talking of spiritual food, and the satisfaction that comes from doing God’s will.

Jesus then continues stretching their minds by talking about a spiritual harvest. The temptation we all face is thinking that there must be a great season of “sowing” before we can eventually “reap” or harvest. Jesus counters this mindset by stating that spiritually, there is sowing and reaping happening simultaneously. Each person might fill a different role in the process of leading someone to Christ, but we must not assume there will be a delay. This teaching at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, which He shared while traveling through the land of Samaria, leads into the biggest mind-stretching event for the disciples: The whole town comes out to see Jesus.

The big mind stretch in this passage comes in the third group of people – those living in the town who came out to see Jesus.

Their story begins with the transformed life and character of the woman who they all knew, and who was acting significantly differently than at the beginning of this event. At the beginning, she was shy, timid, and quiet – wanting to be hidden from sight – while now she is bold and telling everyone about this odd person, and sharing the idea that the Messiah might have come.

The townspeople seemed interested enough in Jesus that they ask Him to stay with them for a few days. John doesn’t tell us what Jesus shared during those few days, but we do see the final result: Many of the people in the down put their faith and trust in Jesus. At the end of this passage, John writes that they tell the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world.”

The townspeople have their mind stretched personally by Jesus and then proclaim along with the woman that Jesus really is the Savior of the world.

Jesus stretched the minds of three very unique and distinct groups of people, and each person in this event would never be the same. When Jesus has stretched your mind, it can never shrink back to its original size.

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. Let God stretch your mind to the size He wants it to be, and don’t be afraid of going into the places and situations God tells you to go into. Also, never discount anyone else’s experience with God. God wants a personal relationship with everyone, and that includes you and every other person alive today!

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself in order to grow your personal relationship with God. God wants a personal relationship with you, and the best way to grow a relationship with God is through prayer and studying His Word.

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!

During one of Jesus’ earlier visits to Jerusalem after starting His ministry, John’s gospel describes a fascinating secret meeting Jesus has during the night with a leading Pharisee. In this secret meeting is found one of the most famous verses in the entire Bible, and one of the most concise summaries of God the Father’s view of humanity.

However, while this summary is at the heart of Jesus’ response to the man named Nicodemus, in many ways, it is simply the starting point for our understanding of God the Father. Let’s read Nicodemus’ secret conversation with Jesus and discover what else we can learn from this discussion.

Our passage for this episode is found in the gospel of John, chapter 3, and we will read it using the New Century Version. Starting in verse 1, John tells us that:

¹ There was a man named Nicodemus who was one of the Pharisees and an important Jewish leader. ² One night Nicodemus came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we know you are a teacher sent from God, because no one can do the miracles you do unless God is with him.”

³ Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot be in God’s kingdom.”

⁴ Nicodemus said, “But if a person is already old, how can he be born again? He cannot enter his mother’s womb again. So how can a person be born a second time?”

⁵ But Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born from water and the Spirit, you cannot enter God’s kingdom. ⁶ Human life comes from human parents, but spiritual life comes from the Spirit. ⁷ Don’t be surprised when I tell you, ‘You must all be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows where it wants to and you hear the sound of it, but you don’t know where the wind comes from or where it is going. It is the same with every person who is born from the Spirit.”

⁹ Nicodemus asked, “How can this happen?”

¹⁰ Jesus said, “You are an important teacher in Israel, and you don’t understand these things? ¹¹ I tell you the truth, we talk about what we know, and we tell about what we have seen, but you don’t accept what we tell you. ¹² I have told you about things here on earth, and you do not believe me. So you will not believe me if I tell you about things of heaven. ¹³ The only one who has ever gone up to heaven is the One who came down from heaven—the Son of Man.

¹⁴ “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, the Son of Man must also be lifted up. ¹⁵ So that everyone who believes can have eternal life in him.

¹⁶ “God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life. ¹⁷ God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ People who believe in God’s Son are not judged guilty. Those who do not believe have already been judged guilty, because they have not believed in God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹ They are judged by this fact: The Light has come into the world, but they did not want light. They wanted darkness, because they were doing evil things. ²⁰ All who do evil hate the light and will not come to the light, because it will show all the evil things they do. ²¹ But those who follow the true way come to the light, and it shows that the things they do were done through God.”

²² After this, Jesus and his followers went into the area of Judea, where he stayed with his followers and baptized people.

In this secret discussion, we find a number of interesting topics we could focus in on. As I was preparing this episode, I had planned to focus in on talking about how Jesus had used the phrase “Son of Man” in this conversation, and that this phrase would foreshadow how Jesus would often refer to Himself during the gospels.

But just now, as I read this to you, I don’t think I had ever noticed a different phrase. Before Jesus lets Nicodemus in on a secret, verse 13 says, “The only one who has ever gone up to heaven is the One who came down from heaven”.

Even as I quote this, I am reminded of Enoch, who walked with God and according to Genesis 5:24, was taken by God, supposedly to Heaven, as tradition would tell us. This is later restated in the book of Hebrews, chapter 5, verse 11.

I am also reminded of Moses, who even though he died before entering the Promised Land with the children of Israel, was resurrected and taken to Heaven, and Elijah, who was one of the more famous Old Testament prophets. Both Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus later on in His ministry known in the event called “The Transfiguration of Jesus”, and this event is recorded in three of the four gospels.

I am challenged by Jesus’ description of the Son of Man in this regard, because we have three clear other individuals who appeared to go up to heaven prior to Jesus having come down. However, while this might be a reason for some to doubt Jesus’ words here, in the three cases we have before us that seem to contradict Jesus’ words, every one of these individuals was “taken” to heaven rather than ascending on their own.

This is a key distinction, because this also means that no one is able to ascend to heaven on their own. Jesus is the only one capable of taking people to heaven. While it is not politically correct to state this, Jesus is the only road that leads to Heaven. This is confirmed by our pair of famous verses, John, chapter 3, verses 16 and 17 which tell us: “God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him.”

This is simply a starting point, because Jesus hasn’t stopped talking. He goes on to describe in verse 18 and 19 that “People who believe in God’s Son are not judged guilty. Those who do not believe have already been judged guilty, because they have not believed in God’s one and only Son. They are judged by this fact: The Light has come into the world, but they did not want light. They wanted darkness, because they were doing evil things.”

In our passage, like bookends on the famous set of verses, are a set of challenges for all of us.

The opening bookend challenges us to always depend on and believe in Jesus Christ, who is the Son of Man. While we might be tempted to think that we can earn salvation through something we do, we are unable and incapable of taking ourselves to heaven. Ascending to heaven is only something Jesus can do, and He promises to take us to heaven if we believe in Him, which is another way of saying that we depend on and trust Him.

The closing bookend tells us that belief in Jesus is the key to avoiding judgment. However, belief is not the only condition, because Jesus describes those who do not believe as people who did not want light, because they were doing evil things. Belief in Jesus is connected with living like Jesus, which means that we are living a life that represents God as best as we can, and when we combine faith with a life that is surrendered to Jesus, we avoid facing the judgment.

With all this said, here are the “official” challenges I am leaving you with at the end of this podcast episode:

As I always open these challenges by saying in one way or another, intentionally put God first in your life. Choose to depend daily on Jesus for strength to face each day, and trust that He is the only One who saves. While those living in the Old Testament had the lamb as a symbol pointing forward to Jesus, through the gospels, we actually have the record of Jesus’ life and what He was like.

Also, choose to study this record of Jesus’ life personally and prayerfully for yourself. By prayerfully reading the gospels with the goal of learning what Jesus was like, you will let the Holy Spirit into your life and begin to let Him change you into the person that God created you to be.

And when this happens, 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 walk away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!