Reflective Bible Study

As we continue our year moving through the gospels looking at events within Jesus’ life and ministry, we come to an event where Jesus shares some profound truths, but also an event that could make us wonder about God’s plan and God’s character.

In this passage, Jesus shares two profound pieces of information about God, and He ties these two details together with a miracle. Unfortunately, the truths and the miracle are often looked at separately, even though they are contained as part of one continuous event. I suspect this is because this event is a little longer than most, and it is easier to pull specific details out of it than read the whole thing.

However, while I would like to include this entire event in the reading of our passage, that would leave no time for what I want to share with you about why this event is amazing in my mind. Because of this, I encourage you to read this entire event on your own, and I will pull out the three profound sections in it that I want to draw our attention to.

Our passage for this episode is found in the gospel of John, chapter 9, and we will read it using the New Living Translation. Starting in verse 1, John tells us that:

¹ As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. ² “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”

³ “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. ⁴ We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. ⁵ But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Then, summarizing what happens next, Jesus proceeds to heal the man. Picking back up a little later in this event, we continue in verse 13:

¹³ Then they took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees, ¹⁴ because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him. ¹⁵ The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, “He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!”

¹⁶ Some of the Pharisees said, “This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath.” Others said, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” So there was a deep division of opinion among them.

Then after much debate, the Pharisees kick the formerly blind man out of the synagogue. We pick back up at the end of this event, continuing from verse 35:

³⁵ When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

³⁶ The man answered, “Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.”

³⁷ “You have seen him,” Jesus said, “and he is speaking to you!”

³⁸ “Yes, Lord, I believe!” the man said. And he worshiped Jesus.

³⁹ Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.”

⁴⁰ Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?”

⁴¹ “If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied. “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see.”

From start to finish, this entire event is designed to teach us something about God and something about ourselves. The event begins with the question, do bad things happen because we did something wrong, or because our parents did something wrong?

While each of these responses wants to direct blame towards someone, even if the someone is ourselves, Jesus’ clear response is neither, and He adds a third category that is perhaps a little more challenging than the first two. The first category allows us to place the blame on ourselves, while the second category allows us to place the blame on our parents. But this third category points to God.

While we like to point the finger and assign blame to God for the evil we see in today’s world, I wonder aloud how much of what happens in the world today is being allowed by God as an opportunity for the people of God to show the power of God to those living today?

The third category Jesus shares might make us think we should point our fingers at God for allowing the bad, but what if He returns the favor by pointing His finger back at us while saying, “This happened so that you could have the opportunity to teach others about Me and join me in helping fix this problem.”

In our passage, the immediate context for the disciples’ question is the disability of blindness in one individual, but I believe that the truth Jesus shared could extend to any area of culture or humanity that has deviated from God’s original plan.

This whole event is fascinating to me. It seems as though God orchestrated all the pieces together to help teach a truth. After Jesus has healed the blind man, we learn another key detail: Jesus did this on the Sabbath, on the nation’s official day of rest, and that means that the spiritual leaders get involved.

Through this event, not only does Jesus give a third category to why things happen as they do, He also splits up the Pharisees: One group is certain that Jesus cannot be from God, while the other group asks the insightful question about how Jesus could perform any miracle without having God’s approval in the first place. While the primary truth given throughout this event is relating to blindness, the secondary, subtle one is related to how God views the Sabbath day. We shouldn’t ignore the details present in this passage if God planned all these details out.

While I’d love to spend more time focusing on the detail of the Sabbath, it would leave us with no time left for the bigger truth present at the end of this passage.

Concluding this event, we now get to the heart of why this man was born blind, and the truth that His life was meant to be an illustration. Verse 39 is the key truth behind this whole event: “Then Jesus told him, ‘I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.’”

According to Jesus, this man was born blind to be a living witness that eyesight alone does not give someone spiritual sight. Throughout the Bible, as well as history, God has often used people’s lives as a witness to lead people to Him. This formerly blind man is an example of this: His life before meeting Jesus was filled with blindness, and after His encounter with Jesus, He had a completely new perspective.

The passage concludes with a follow-up truth to Jesus’ key point: “‘If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,’ Jesus replied. ‘But you remain guilty because you claim you can see.’”

Spiritual blindness does not equal guilt in the same way that a physically blind person cannot be charged with ignorance over breaking the speed limit. A blind person isn’t allowed to drive, so there is a bigger issue in this example that takes precedence over the knowledge of the speed limit.

The bigger issue in Jesus’ follow-up truth is that there is a group of people who claim they can see even though they are blind. Acknowledging one’s blindness allows God to work in one’s heart, while claiming sight stops God from moving. This difference is seen in the two Pharisee responses: The first group claimed sight by stating they were certain Jesus could not be from God, while the second group acknowledges the dilemma about miracles coming from a source other than God. This question admits a level of blindness, and it is a position God can use to lead people closer to Him.

This whole event is a unified teaching about God, and God’s power working in this formerly blind man’s life gave way to Jesus helping us see our blindness. I will be the first to say that while I have insights in these passages, I don’t have answers to all challenging questions. However, I know that when I lean on God for spiritual sight, He gives me the insights I need to face each day moving forward 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, intentionally seek God first in your life, and also choose to acknowledge your blindness. Ask God for help with your spiritual blindness and for eyes to see the world as He sees it.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself in order to discover who God is and what He is really like. Choose to study with an open mind and allow God’s Holy Spirit to lead you into God’s truth.

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 continue moving through our year chronologically moving through events in Jesus’ life and ministry, we come to a parable Jesus shared that is both fascinating as well as challenging. While many of Jesus’ parables and illustrations could be described this way, this one in particular challenges us with where we place our focus and how we respond to God when He has blessed us.

With that said, let’s read this parable and discover what we can learn from what Jesus shared.

Our passage for this episode is found in the gospel of Luke, chapter 12, and we will read it using the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting a few verses before the parable itself, Luke tells us starting in verse 13 that:

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.” 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.”

With this verse, Jesus ends His parable. While Jesus continues teaching following this parable, let’s stop reading here so we can focus on what we can learn from this parable and the question that prompted Jesus to share it.

First off, it is worth looking at how this parable is prompted by someone requesting Jesus to help with a family dispute that is happening over the family estate and inheritance. When we stop to think about it, the circumstances surrounding this dilemma are about as timeless of an issue as we could get. I suspect that most generations, if not most families, have tension, disputes, arguments, or even worse when dealing with the estate of a parent or grandparent who has passed away.

While the question or request over this estate is a fascinating situation in itself, equally amazing is the question Jesus responds with. Before redirecting His teaching, Jesus asked this man in verse 14, “Who appointed me as a judge over you?” This is a fascinating question because on one level, as God, Jesus is the final judge of the whole world. However, when we look at Jesus’ mission and ministry to this world, Jesus did not come to fill the role of a judge, who listens to case after case after case and then renders judgment. Instead, Jesus came as a Teacher and Savior, with the goal of leading people to a true picture of God. While it might have been interesting to know how Jesus would have acted if placed in the judge or negotiator role for this dispute, with the illustration Jesus shares following this dialog, we can get a sense for what Jesus would have said.

After asking this man the rhetorical question, Jesus then redirects His teaching onto the core issue in this situation. In verse 15, Jesus clearly states the root issue when He says, “Be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” In this opening statement, Jesus identifies that the root issue in this situation is greed. On one level, greed is trying to amass as much stuff and wealth as possible. On another level, greed is simply defining yourself by looking at the stuff, or amount of stuff, that you own.

Defining who you are based upon what you own can be as simple as feeling special because you are wearing a certain brand name, or feeling important because you travel a certain way or in a certain type of vehicle. It doesn’t have to be as cliché as the anti-social rich person who hoards everything and cannot let go of a single penny. If we narrowly define greed as something that only affects a certain subset of the population that we would define as rich, then we miss realizing that greed is a character trait that is very distinct from wealth.

Leading up to His parable, Jesus warns us that any time an object, a project, or a balance sheet becomes a part of our identity, greed is working its way into our lives.

In this parable, Jesus’ draws our attention onto the truth that even if you were the richest person in the world, and were so far ahead of whoever happened to be in second place that there was no way for anyone to even come close to catching you, your life would still not be equal to your stuff. In society, we call someone who defines their value in life by their net worth as shallow.

Intuitively, we know that money and stuff doesn’t equal our worth, but in culture today, very little focus is placed on your value in God’s eyes. Fame, fortune, and influence equals value and worth by culture’s standards. Even if culture and society say that stuff doesn’t equal value, culture and society act as though it is, and this is a very shallow view of life.

To contrast this, God showed you how much He values You, and He did this through the life of His Son. Jesus’ life is way more valuable than anything that can be listed on a balance sheet!

Jesus challenges the culture’s idea of our worth in this passage using one of His simplest parables – a parable that has only two characters. In most of Jesus’ parables, one character represents God, and another represents us, and this parable is the same – but in this parable, there is no guessing needed as to who is who. In this parable, God is God, and the man represents all of humanity on an individual level.

Everyone has the temptation to acquire more money, more stuff, and/or more status, but not everyone chooses to cave in to the temptation. The man in this parable does the most natural human thing to do – build bigger barns, which we could say is like buying another investment, buying a bigger house with more land, or depositing the money in another savings account.

However, this parable shifts the focus onto legacy; onto what happens after our life has ended. Regardless of the wealth we have acquired, someone else will get it after we have died. There is no escaping this, and no one gets to take carryon luggage with them on the journey to heaven.

While some might be quick to label this parable as speaking out against the wealthy, this parable is not about the evils of having wealth. The rich man only had an abundant crop because God gave it to him. In the context of this parable, God controlled the weather and other conditions surrounding how productive this rich man’s farm was, and if God didn’t want this rich man to have a productive year, it was easily within His power to do so. But this parable is not about God blessing or punishing rich people; it is about showing us enough about ourselves that He can then redirect us towards having a new perspective on our lives.

This parable, and Jesus’ teaching that follows it about worry, is all about where we place our focus and our trust. It is all about who or what we choose to focus on and where we choose to place our trust and security. Our balance sheet, and everything it represents, wants to tempt us into thinking it offers lasting security, but it is at best only a partial protection against what can happen. Only God can protect us in the present and future, because only He knows what the future holds for 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 place your faith, hope, and trust in Him

Also, continue to personally pray and study the Bible, for yourself, in order to learn firsthand who Jesus is and what He thinks of you. Through the pages of the Bible, discover a God who loves you more than you could possibly realize.

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

As we continue into the second half of our first chronological year looking at Jesus’ life and ministry, we arrive at a passage where the disciples ask Jesus an interesting question. While this question might not be the first question we would ask Jesus if given the opportunity, I suspect that if the significance of our questions were ranked, the question Jesus’ disciples ask Him would be really high on the list.

The question these disciples ask is about how they should pray. Two of the gospels record Jesus sharing model prayers, and while each gospel shares a similar prayer, Matthew’s gospel seems to get more attention, while Luke’s gospel focuses in on the personal relationship that we can have with God through our prayers. I believe both prayers are significant, so while our time together will focus on Luke’s version of Jesus’ model prayer, what I say regarding Luke’s version will likely be equally valid if looking at Matthew’s.

With that said, our passage and prayer is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 11, and we will read it using the Good News Translation. Starting in verse 1, Luke tells us that:

¹ One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

² Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say this:

‘Father:
    May your holy name be honored;
    may your Kingdom come.
³ Give us day by day the food we need.
⁴ Forgive us our sins,
    for we forgive everyone who does us wrong.
    And do not bring us to hard testing.’”

And that’s it. There is no formal close to the prayer. No “Amen” or anything like that. Luke records Jesus’ example prayer as being very short and sweet. Immediately following this prayer, Luke shares Jesus illustrating the truth that we should be persistent in our prayers with a short parable.

While it would be tempting to jump forward and focus time on Jesus’ parable, if we do so, we might miss out just how profound Jesus’ model prayer in this passage is! While I’m sure there are more things worth identifying in Jesus’ prayer than what we have time for, allow me to share six ideas in Jesus’ prayer that can help anyone who is struggling with wanting a better prayer experience.

The first idea worth pointing out is in Jesus’ opening word. Jesus opens His prayer by calling God His “Father”. This is a relational term, and something we can relate to in our physical lives. You and I have fathers who helped bring us into the world, and we have God as a spiritual Father who is looking out for us in ways that we couldn’t even begin to imagine.

While some people might dismiss this frame simply because God the Father was Jesus’ Father, that misses the simple detail that Jesus is instructing His followers how they should pray. Jesus tells us to call God our Father!

Next, Jesus continues with a statement of humility and respect by saying, “May your holy name be honored”. Our names are a part of our identity, and while we use them to communicate with one another in our physical lives, they carry with them a spiritual element that extends beyond something merely physical. God’s name is similar. We can use it to identify Him, but His name is part of His identity, and it is very spiritual and significant.

Jesus telling us to give honor to God’s name is important, because we are acknowledging that we understand who He is, and in contrast, who we are. God is a huge God, and we are microscopic in His presence, similar to an ant standing in front of a 50 foot tall giant. This makes it that much more awesome that God would be interested in us enough to send Jesus into the world of humanity!

Following talking about God’s name, Jesus shares a statement about God’s role: “may your Kingdom come”. God is a king, and He rules a kingdom that is much greater than any “earthly kingdom”. God’s kingdom spans both the physical and the spiritual worlds, and it is an always-expanding kingdom.

The third statement also brings with it the notion of free will, opening up a transition to the next half of the prayer. God’s kingdom is not forced onto anyone’s heart, but the request to see it come is one we ask to have happen, and when we ask God to bring His Kingdom to us, I believe He is more than happy to bring it. While God has partially hidden His kingdom during this age of sin, as disciples praying to God, we long to see Him end this doomed, sin-stained age and recreate our world into a place where His kingdom is clearly visible.

The first three details in Jesus’ prayer are all about God. Within one sentence, Jesus has focused our attention on who God is, on His relationship with us, on our relationship with Him, and on God’s ultimate role in the affairs of the universe.

The next half of Jesus’ model prayer transitions onto what God can do for us, and it follows a similar progression as the first half did.

The first phrase in the second half of this model prayer acknowledges that God is our provider: “Give us day by day the food we need”. Echoing God’s role as our “Father”, we ask Him to provide us with everything we need, just like a father would. This isn’t asking, or providing for everything we want, but asking for the things we need, and doing it on a day-by-day basis. A parent wouldn’t give their infant three months worth of food and then leave them to fend for themselves, and neither would God dump more on us than we are able handle. “Day by day” is our motto, as we move forward through life with God by our side.

The second phrase in the second half of Jesus’ model prayer brings us to our next layer of need: forgiveness. “Forgive us our sins, for we forgive everyone who does us wrong.” Just like the second statement in the first half of Jesus prayer that framed God as holy, we now acknowledge our need for forgiveness, and this is forgiveness that we understand is not our right to receive. God is holy, and He is not required to forgive us. We demonstrate that we want His forgiveness by forgiving those who have done us wrong. God has promised to forgive us of sin, but His promise is based on our choosing to forgive others who have wronged us.

The last statement in Jesus’ model prayer echoes back to God’s role in the third statement of the introduction. Jesus finishes by saying, “And do not bring us to hard testing” which relates to God’s role as a guide for our lives as we choose to be a part of His kingdom. As we are given responsibility, God watches how we handle the task. We could call this a test and it is God’s right to send tests our way.

This last phrase acknowledges God’s right to test us because He is King, but it also requests that He choose to not test us with hard challenges. Just because we have asked does not mean that our request will be granted, but simply making the request helps keep our focus on God.

Everything in this example prayer is completely focused on God – even the part where Jesus tells us to be forgiving towards others. The first part of this prayer focuses on who God is, and the second part focuses on how we continually need God present in our lives.

There is no closing for this prayer, which suggests that our connection to God should always remain open. Just like we don’t want to end our relationship with Him, there is no reason to “hang up the phone” on our conversation either.

After sharing this prayer, Jesus shifts His focus onto how we should be persistent in our prayers, and persistence when praying is important. Jesus wraps up this teaching by reminding us that God the Father may be compared with an earthly father, except that God the Father is the role model and in every way we can imagine, He is better than any and every earthly Father.

Jesus wants us to see God the Father as our Heavenly Father: specifically as Someone big enough to tackle any problem we face, but also personal enough for us to share life with.

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. Understand that God wants to be your Friend, your Father, and your Forgiver. Recognize these three roles that God wants to have in your life and use them as motivation to intentionally seek God more.

Seeking to know God is best done by intentionally spending time with Him, through prayer, and by personally studying the Bible for yourself. Through the pages of the Bible, discover a God who is passionately in love with His people and that He desperately wants you saved and in heaven 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 outright reject where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

If you have ever found yourself with priorities that were misplaced, or if you have ever focused on something that you should have ignored, the passage we will be focusing on in this podcast episode may be worth paying attention to.

The passage we will be focusing in on for this episode comes at the end of a significant adventure Jesus sent his followers on. While we often think of Jesus’ followers as being unnumbered large crowds, or a small group of 12 disciples, the group Luke draws our attention to is somewhere between these two extremes.

In this event, Jesus welcomes back 72 of His followers who He had sent out in pairs as missionaries, and when they return, something significant stood out in my mind with Jesus’ welcome-back message.

Our passage for this podcast episode is found in the gospel of Luke, chapter 10, and we will be reading it using the New Century Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 17, Luke tells us that:

¹⁷ When the seventy-two came back, they were very happy and said, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we used your name!”

¹⁸ Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹ Listen, I have given you power to walk on snakes and scorpions, power that is greater than the enemy has. So nothing will hurt you. ²⁰ But you should not be happy because the spirits obey you but because your names are written in heaven.”

This welcoming back message from Jesus is amazing. Leading up to this conclusion, Jesus had commissioned 72 of His followers to go to the neighboring cities and towns to share the great news about the Kingdom of God. When these followers return, they genuinely appear amazed and grateful for the power that God gave them when they used Jesus’ name.

In a similar way, in our own lives, it is very easy to get caught up focusing on our gifts, talents, abilities, connections, and our resources or resourcefulness, but while this is our tendency, Jesus challenges us like He challenged His followers.

This is because our tendency is to focus on us and what “we” have been given or blessed with. If we look closely at what these followers say in verse 17, we can see this hinted at. Luke tells us Jesus’ followers returned saying, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we used your name!”

While some might say that the focus is still rightfully being placed on God or Jesus in this statement, there are ways of sharing this idea that don’t include the words “us” or “we”. As an example, these followers could have collectively said, “Lord, the demons fled when they heard your name.”

By including the words “us” and “we”, there is a subtle hint drawing the focus onto the disciples, which then pulls it away from God. While it is not wrong for other people to look at us as followers of Jesus hoping or expecting to see Jesus, as followers of Jesus, our goal should not be collecting people we can call “our followers”.

Instead, the goal for someone who is following Christ is to point other people to follow Christ. If others follow Christ and simultaneously look up to us, then that is their decision. This is not something we should seek or strive for.

This is the subtle trap in how Jesus’ followers responded.

However, I find it interesting that Jesus doesn’t lead into His response by correcting them. Instead, Jesus opens His response by drawing attention to Satan being a defeated enemy, before then beginning to redirect their focus.

For each of us, while it is easy to get caught up focusing on what God has blessed us with, Jesus challenges us to focus on where we stand with God.

Above everything else, the primary reason for us to be happy is not because of the gifts God has given us in the present, but because of the big gift He has assured us of in the future. Every gift God could give to us today, aside from a strong relationship with Him, is nothing when compared to what He promises us when He returns. And more importantly, the primary focus of this life is to realize that we need God’s help. We ask God for help when we put our faith, hope, trust, and belief in Him, and this is the way we accept God’s promised future life in a new heaven and new earth.

Jesus’ message to His followers in this passage is significant. Jesus sees the subtle temptation and opening for pride to take hold in these followers and He shifts their focus back onto one that is aligned with God’s perspective.

It is interesting in my mind that Jesus focuses on the promise and assurance that His followers names are written in Heaven. This not only points these followers onto their future rewards, but it also subtly helps shift their perspective away from the present, earthly perspective and onto an eternity-focused, heavenly perspective.

When we intentionally stop and focus on life from the perspective of eternity, we are better able to understand many of the challenging areas of our lives in this sin-filled world. While it is a little obvious to say out loud, God knows that while bad things happen to innocent people in our sinful world, humans cannot abuse anyone out of heaven. The only way we forfeit heaven is if we choose to reject the gift Jesus offers to us.

Humans cannot abuse anyone out of heaven.

It is unfortunate that while Christians have a responsibility to share Jesus with others, too often, we do a poor job at it. However, Jesus is greater than even the broad Christian Church. For the two thousand or so years before the Jewish nation stepped into history, and before the 1500 years or so between the formation of the Jewish nation and Jesus launching the Christian movement, God has moved through individual lives leading people into realizing their need to depend on Him.

As Christians, we can easily misrepresent God and Jesus, but it would be foolish for us to think that God is surprised by this. Nothing we do can surprise God. When we screw up, God is ready with a backup plan.

For thousands of years, the devil has tried to abuse people out of heaven, but God is bigger, God is stronger, God is smarter. He won’t let Satan’s abuse separate or steal away those those He loves from being connected with Him.

God wants us to view life through His eyes, through the lens of eternity, and when we do this, we are able to understand many things regarding our present life and we are able to stay connected with Him even when times in this world get tough.

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. Purposefully seek to learn what He really is like in order to better be able to see life through the lens of eternity. Only when we look at life from the perspective of God can we begin to understand some of the challenges and pain that life brings our way.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself. The best way to learn about God is by starting with the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and focusing on learning about Jesus. Jesus came to show us what God the Father is like, and a picture of God that doesn’t reflect Jesus is a bad picture of God.

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 be tricked into abandoning where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!