Reflective Bible Study

On the night Jesus was betrayed and arrested, while Judas Iscariot and the religious leaders are gathering the mob to arrest Jesus, Jesus spends the first part of His remaining time with the disciples teaching them and giving them reasons for hope.

Over the past few episodes, we have looked at what John has told us about Jesus’ last message to His followers leading up to His arrest, and in this episode, we’ll continue looking at Jesus’ words, including a promise Jesus emphasizes, but that the disciples might not have fully understood until later.

With this said, let’s dive into our passage. Our passage for this episode is found in John, chapter 16, and we will read it using the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 1, John records Jesus saying to the disciples:

¹ “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. ² They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. ³ They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. ⁴ I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you,

⁵ but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. ⁷ But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ about sin, because people do not believe in me; ¹⁰ about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; ¹¹ and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

¹² “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. ¹³ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. ¹⁵ All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

¹⁶ Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”

¹⁷ At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸ They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”

¹⁹ Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? ²⁰ Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. ²¹ A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. ²² So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. ²³ In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. ²⁴ Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

²⁵ “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. ²⁶ In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. ²⁷ No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. ²⁸ I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

²⁹ Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. ³⁰ Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”

³¹ “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. ³² “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.

³³ “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

In this late-night message to Jesus’ disciples, two portions of this passage stand out in my mind. The first is when Jesus is sharing three primary roles for the Holy Spirit, also known as the Advocate according to this translation. Jesus promised us in verse 9 that when the Holy Spirit comes, He would “prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment”. Jesus then clarifies these three points in verses 9 through 11. The truth about sin, specifically our past sins, is that they only really matters if we do not believe in Jesus. The truth about righteousness, referring to personal integrity and having a Godly character, is found in Jesus standing in heaven as our advocate. And the truth about the judgment is that it is guaranteed to happen because the prince of this world, referring to Satan, stands as condemned.

While each of these points could be the focus of a full length sermon, before our time runs out, there is one other idea that Jesus shared in this passage I want to draw our attention to.

In some segments of Christianity today, there is the belief that God is looking at those in the world with anger and hostility, but that Jesus is holding the Father’s anger back. Whenever a prayer comes in, it might go to Jesus, who would petition for this prayer to be answered by God. However, this belief runs contrary to Jesus’ message to His followers that night. Verses 26 and 27 clearly draw out the truth about God the Father and His attitude towards us: “In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.”

Jesus tells us that God the Father loves us and that He is willing to hear and answer our prayers. We can, and should, ask our prayers in Jesus’ name, but all too often, slapping the phrase, “In Jesus’ name” at the end of our prayers is less heartfelt and more cliché than we might want to admit. When we come before God with our prayers, it is beneficial to come in Jesus’ name, because it reminds us about what Jesus accomplished for us, but we should never cheapen our prayers to God with clichés. Clichés hurt our prayers unless we intentionally mean the words that we are saying.

While there is more we could focus in on, it will need to wait for another time. With that said, 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 welcome the Holy Spirit into your heart. Understand the three primary roles the Holy Spirit has and let Him teach you the truth about sin, the truth about righteousness, and the truth about the judgment. While Satan has lies spread throughout culture about all three of these things, trust that when we lean on the Holy Spirit for God’s truth, He will lead us into God’s truth in each of these topics.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself, being intentional about inviting the Holy Spirit into your study time. Since the Holy Spirit is behind the inspiration of the Bible, there is no better Teacher for our minds when trying to understand the Bible than the Holy Spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit for help studying, and don’t be surprised when He draws your attention onto new insights you never have seen before.

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

While some of Jesus’ parables are given because Jesus knew the crowds needed to hear a specific truth, other parables are shared in response to specific questions. Some parables are given in the context of the broader crowds, while other parables are given to just Jesus’ close group of disciples.

The parable we will be focusing in on for this episode happens to be a parable shared in response to a specific question, and this parable was likely shared while only the disciples were present. However, just because this parable didn’t have a broad audience when Jesus shared it doesn’t mean that it is less relevant or less challenging. This parable may be one of the most challenging parables Jesus shared.

However, leading up to this parable, one of Jesus’ disciples asks Him a question. Let’s read the question and Jesus’ response that includes this parable. Our passage is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 18, and we will be reading from the New Century Version. Starting in verse 21, Matthew tells us:

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, when my fellow believer sins against me, how many times must I forgive him? Should I forgive him as many as seven times?”

²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive him more than seven times. You must forgive him even if he wrongs you seventy times seven.

Before jumping into the parable, two things stand out about the question Peter asks Jesus. These two things hinge on the phrase “fellow believer”. Other translations might use the word brother, but however the translators bring the idea into our language, the idea is that this is someone who is closer to us.

I’m not sure what prompted Peter to ask Jesus the question in this way, but it is fascinating that Peter would ask specifically about those closest to us, and/or specifically about those who believe similarly as we do.

In the first portion of Jesus’ response, we discover that Jesus challenges Peter that counting the number of times is worthless. Jesus multiplied the number Peter suggested by ten, then told Peter that the number is more like Jesus’ number multiplied by Peter’s number. In this case, this sounds like 70 times 7.

I don’t believe Jesus is giving us a number to use, but telling us that the actual number is well beyond whatever reasonable number we might suggest.

However, is this only a guideline for our fellow believers? I don’t think so, because while the context of the question is framed this way, the parable Jesus shares in His response suggests otherwise.

After challenging the number of times Peter’s suggested we should forgive, Jesus continues in verse 23 by sharing a parable:

²³ “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who decided to collect the money his servants owed him. ²⁴ When the king began to collect his money, a servant who owed him several million dollars was brought to him. ²⁵ But the servant did not have enough money to pay his master, the king. So the master ordered that everything the servant owned should be sold, even the servant’s wife and children. Then the money would be used to pay the king what the servant owed.

²⁶ “But the servant fell on his knees and begged, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.’ ²⁷ The master felt sorry for his servant and told him he did not have to pay it back. Then he let the servant go free.

²⁸ “Later, that same servant found another servant who owed him a few dollars. The servant grabbed him around the neck and said, ‘Pay me the money you owe me!’

²⁹ “The other servant fell on his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.’

³⁰ “But the first servant refused to be patient. He threw the other servant into prison until he could pay everything he owed. ³¹ When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very sorry. So they went and told their master all that had happened.

³² “Then the master called his servant in and said, ‘You evil servant! Because you begged me to forget what you owed, I told you that you did not have to pay anything.³³ You should have showed mercy to that other servant, just as I showed mercy to you.’³⁴ The master was very angry and put the servant in prison to be punished until he could pay everything he owed.

³⁵ “This king did what my heavenly Father will do to you if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

When I read this parable, I am immediately challenged by two big ideas. The first idea is that the debt we are forgiven is a debt that we cannot even come close to paying on our own. While the NCV translation puts the significance of the debt as several million dollars, the original language describes this as 10,000 talents. When we discover that one talent equals over 15 years of wages for a common laborer, we get a huge number. Doing the math, we come up with 150,000 years of wages. This is a little longer than our current life spans as humans living in sin.

However, what happens if you earn more than minimum wage, then let’s cut the number of years back. For our episode illustration, let’s assume you make four times what minimum wage is and see how the math works out. Working for a rate of four times what minimum wage is, you would still need to work and earn for over 37,000 years.

I’m sure you could get there faster with appropriate savings and compound interest, but the best case scenario says you would not have enough time on earth to earn enough to repay this debt. The debt we are forgiven because we have sinned against God is a debt that is bigger than we can pay on our own. This is a debt we must come humbly before God and ask to be forgiven.

However, more challenging than the debt that we have been forgiven is the realization that our staying forgiven is conditional. If we choose to not forgive others, then God will withdraw our forgiveness. The unimaginable gift that Jesus gives to us called forgiveness from a debt we could never pay will be withdrawn if we don’t forgive others of the lesser debts they owe us.

This isn’t pleasant to think about, and it doesn’t sound like good news on the surface, but this is actually amazing news. The reason this is amazing news in my mind is when we think about the alternate.

What would happen if you were stuck in heaven with someone who was unwilling to forgive if something went wrong? While heaven is perfect, I think it is naïve to think that everything in heaven will go our way. What would you think if a disagreement arose between you and a neighbor and they chose not to forgive you?

Without forgiveness, heaven would cease to be perfect, and because of this, every one of God’s people who are invited and accepted into heaven have a grateful attitude of forgiveness, because when we think about forgiveness, God forgave us first. God also forgave us of a greater debt than we could ever dream of repaying. Because of this, we forgive others as a small way of saying thank you to God for forgiving us of our sin-debt.

If you are struggling with forgiveness in your life, take this challenge to God and ask Him to remind you just how much He has forgiven you. When we frame our forgiveness issues in light of what God went through to forgive us, our issues don’t seem nearly as challenging. If you are still struggling with forgiveness, why not ask God for help. God is the best Forgiver in the universe, and He is more than willing to help us forgive one another.

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

Continue to seek God first in your life and remember just how much God gave to us when He chose to forgive us of our sins. Choose today to live a life of gratitude and forgiveness, thanking God for what He has given to us by being forgiving to those around us. Remember that God forgave us first, and we show our gratitude towards Him and His gift by forgiving those around us.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each day. Don’t let me, or anyone else, get between you and God. God wants a personal relationship with you that isn’t dependant on anyone else.

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

As we continue focusing on Jesus’ last big teaching to His remaining disciples on the night of His arrest, we come to a promise Jesus shares that is also framed with a challenge. I suspect that this promise stays true while we are following through with Jesus’ challenge, but that when we give up on Jesus’ challenge, we fail to receive what Jesus promised to us.

With that said, let’s dive into this passage and discover what we can learn in what Jesus shared with His remaining followers. Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 15, and we will read it from the New International Reader’s Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 1, John records Jesus saying:

¹ “I am the true vine. My Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch joined to me that does not bear fruit. He trims every branch that does bear fruit. Then it will bear even more fruit. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain joined to me, just as I also remain joined to you. No branch can bear fruit by itself. It must remain joined to the vine. In the same way, you can’t bear fruit unless you remain joined to me.

⁵ “I am the vine. You are the branches. If you remain joined to me, and I to you, you will bear a lot of fruit. You can’t do anything without me. ⁶ If you don’t remain joined to me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and dries up. Branches like those are picked up. They are thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain joined to me and my words remain in you, ask for anything you wish. And it will be done for you. ⁸ When you bear a lot of fruit, it brings glory to my Father. It shows that you are my disciples.

⁹ “Just as the Father has loved me, I have loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love. In the same way, I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that you will have the same joy that I have. I also want your joy to be complete. ¹² Here is my command. Love one another, just as I have loved you. ¹³ No one has greater love than the one who gives their life for their friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I do not call you slaves anymore. Slaves do not know their master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends. I have told you everything I learned from my Father. ¹⁶ You did not choose me. Instead, I chose you. I appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit that will last. I also appointed you so that the Father will give you what you ask for. He will give you whatever you ask for in my name. ¹⁷ Here is my command. Love one another.

¹⁸ “My disciples, does the world hate you? Remember that it hated me first. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, it would love you like one of its own. But you do not belong to the world. I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember what I told you. I said, ‘A slave is not more important than his master.’ If people hated me and tried to hurt me, they will do the same to you. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. ²¹ They will treat you like that because of my name. They do not know the one who sent me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ Whoever hates me hates my Father also. ²⁴ I did works among them that no one else did. If I hadn’t, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen those works. And still they have hated both me and my Father. ²⁵ This has happened so that what is written in their Law would come true. It says, ‘They hated me without any reason.’

²⁶ “I will send the Friend to you from the Father. He is the Spirit of truth, who comes out from the Father. When the Friend comes to help you, he will be a witness about me. ²⁷ You must also be witnesses about me. That’s because you have been with me from the beginning.

In this passage, Jesus challenges His disciples with the illustration of a vine and its branches. The challenge for us in this illustration is that as branches, the only way we will have life that allows us to be fruitful is when we stay connected to the vine, and the vine in this illustration is Jesus.

Throughout this passage, we are called to be fruitful for God, to be witnesses for Him, and to let Him give us life. When we are being witnesses for God, being fruitful for Him with the life He has given to each of us, we are bringing glory to God the Father, and fulfilling the mission He has placed us on this earth to fulfill. Tucked within this passage is the powerful life mission that we are called to give glory to God by being fruitful with the things He has blessed us with.

Also within this passage is a powerful promise. In verse 15, Jesus tells us that: “I do not call you slaves anymore. Slaves do not know their master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends. I have told you everything I learned from my Father.”

If we are ever tempted to think that God created us to simply be His slaves, Jesus challenges this lie clearly in this verse. If God wanted slaves, He would have created humanity in a very different way – and if this other way allowed us fail the test of sin, God would have responded in a very different way as well. While it is not ideal to think about, slaves are treated differently than friends.

Jesus instead frames the way God sees us as friends. While one way of looking at friendship is two equals who enjoy spending time together, I suspect the friendship we have with God is more like a King being friends with those who He enjoys spending time with. It would also be like the CEO of a company being friends with someone several levels down in the organization.

In these clearly unequal examples of friendship, we discover that we are not equal friends with God, but that He desires us to be His friends, and that He blesses us, promises us, and shares with us like a friend would. Some people might be tempted to take God’s blessings, promises, and truths and run, but that is not the actions of a true friend. A true friend accepts the gifts they have been given and then wants to give back gifts that their friend wants.

If our friendship with God was equal, we could give God back equally to what He has blessed us with. However, our friendship with God is so unequal that the best we can offer is entirely unworthy of God. The best we can offer God is like dirty rags.

But God has given us another choice. In response to everything God has blessed us with, we can give God our hearts. While our hearts might be the worst part of our entire being, the only One capable of cleaning, fixing, mending, and restoring sin-stained hearts is God. Because God is the only one capable of fixing or replacing our hearts, it is the gift He desires the most.

God does not want us living forever with a sin-filled, sin-stained, sin-tainted heart. Instead, God wants us to bring our hearts to Him, and let Him transform our hearts into being like His. When we stay connected to Jesus, like a branch stays connected to the vine, we allow God to work on restoring our hearts, and we are able to be fruitful for God in ways that might even surprise us!

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

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to stay connected to Him and to Jesus like a branch connected with a vine. In response to everything God has blessed you with, open up your heart to Him and let Him transform your heart into His heart, and let God take your heart and use it for His glory!

Also, as I always challenge you to do, intentionally pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with God each and every day. God loves you personally, and He wants a personal relationship with you starting today, and extending 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 separate yourself away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we keep moving through the parables and illustrations Jesus used when teaching the people, we come to a parable Jesus shares specifically with His disciples. However, this parable is part of a bigger teaching about the importance of being courteous, intentional, forgiving, and having faith. In just a few short verses, Jesus covers all these topics leading up to a parable that summarizes what our attitudes should be when seeing ourselves as disciples, or followers, of Jesus.

Let’s read Jesus’ teaching, then discuss how it is relevant for us today. Our passage and parable are found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 17, and we will read it from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 1:

¹ Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. ² It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. ³ So watch yourselves.

“If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. ⁴ Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

⁶ He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

⁷ “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? ⁸ Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? ⁹ Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? ¹⁰ So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

In this passage, we discover four big descriptions of what Jesus called His followers to be. But before focusing on these four descriptions, realize that Jesus called His people to be this way, not those who were not His people. Since this message was given to people who already had accepted Jesus’ invitation to follow, we should understand the descriptions we will look at as destination points on the path God leads us on, and not as prerequisites for taking the journey with God.

The standard Jesus sets with these four descriptions is extreme, and it is about as counter-cultural as one could imagine.

Our first big description can be summarized as having a selfless attitude. This is described by Jesus’ opening statement: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. So watch yourselves.” (verses 1-3a)

Having a selfless attitude means that we are intensely focused on the well-being of others and we don’t press our own agenda. The only “agenda” we have is showing others God’s love and helping them discover the Jesus who gave His life for them. If there is something about us or our message that would cause someone to stumble, then we minimize it, but don’t discount it or ignore it. If there is something that is a big issue in the other person’s life, then we shift the focus away from it. It is better to let God’s Holy Spirit do the convincing regarding big issues than for us to place a stumbling block in someone’s path when they are moving towards God.

Having a selfless attitude means we love others, we pray for them, and we help them discover Jesus. We ultimately let God lead them towards His truth.

The next big description is having unconditional forgiveness. This is where Jesus goes next when He says: “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.” (verses 3b-4)

While we are called to forgive others regardless of whether they truly repent, forgiveness is simply not holding them responsible or as payable for the debts they caused us. Forgiving doesn’t mean reconciling them back into our lives, even though some problematic people may be closer connected to us. The unconditional forgiveness Jesus calls His people to live out is nothing more or less than what God does for His people.

We might do our best to avoid sin in our lives, but we stumble, fall, and then come back to God asking for forgiveness. God unconditionally forgives us when we return to Him, and this is the attitude He calls His people to model for the world around them.

The third big description comes after the disciples ask Jesus for help increasing their faith. Jesus doesn’t really answer their direct question, but He does describe what we could call an unwavering faith when He says: “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.” (verse 6)

Jesus calls His people to live lives of unwavering faith in God and in Him. While we might not need to use our faith to move mulberry trees, our lives of faith are no less significant in God’s eyes. When we live lives of unwavering faith, nothing Satan throws our way will stop us from living for God and from having faith in Jesus.

While bad things may happen in our lives, we are not surprised by this because we know this world is filled with sin. God didn’t call us to live easy lives on this earth, but to live lives dedicated to Him. God’s goal for us isn’t a comfortable life in sin, but an eternal life with Him!

The fourth and last big description Jesus gives for His people is the focus of the parable portion of this passage. We could describe this as limitless humility. We discover this through Jesus’ illustration where He tells the disciples: “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’” (verses 7-10)

While a different parable Jesus shares frames God as the one turning the tables and serving us, this parable does not contradict Jesus’ other illustration. Our parable in this passage focuses on our attitude, not on God’s actions. This parable focuses on our expectations and on our response. After serving God for a lifetime, we should be content still serving Him.

This describes a limitless humility, and living a life of limitless humility neatly summarizes living with a selfless attitude, living with unconditional forgiveness, and living with unwavering faith. When we are God’s people, we reflect His life and His character. God has called us to serve others because He loves and serves us. God never stops serving, and this is the attitude He has called His people to model!

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. If you have decided to be one of God’s people, be sure to focus on incorporating these four descriptions into your life with God and your life living among those in this world. However, also know that to truly model these four descriptions, we need the Holy Spirit’s help. We cannot reflect God’s love and God’s character on our own.

Because of this, I always challenge each of us to continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself. Prayer and Bible Study are the best ways to build a strong spiritual foundation for our lives and it is the best way to discover who God is and what He is truly like. While cynics like to only focus on the cruel acts of God, studying the Bible for yourself can help you discover God’s reasons for these challenging events.

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