Reflective Bible Study

In our journey through prophecies from the Old Testament and how they relate to Jesus’ life and ministry, we have covered a lot. However, tucked within the Old Testament book of Job, and reemphasized a number of times during Jesus’ ministry, we have a prophecy that is very connected with Jesus, but one that has yet to take place.

In other words, while some people might like to think of prophecy as being a thing of the past, one of the greatest prophecies in the entire Bible is still to come – and this prophecy is one we can look forward to taking part in.

To discover this prophecy, let’s first look at one of the oldest books from the Old Testament. While not much is known about the exact date the book of Job was written, some people believe this book was recorded prior to Genesis being written.

However, regardless of when Job was written, a set of verses tucked within this narrative are amazing to focus on. In Job, chapter 19, starting in verse 23, and reading from the New American Standard Bible translation, Job tells his friends:

²³ “Oh that my words were written!
Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
²⁴ “That with an iron stylus and lead
They were engraved in the rock forever!
²⁵ “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.
²⁶ “Even after my skin is destroyed,
Yet from my flesh I shall see God;
²⁷ Whom I myself shall behold,
And whom my eyes will see and not another.
My heart faints within me!
²⁸ “If you say, ‘How shall we persecute him?’
And ‘What pretext for a case against him can we find?’
²⁹ “Then be afraid of the sword for yourselves,
For wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
So that you may know there is judgment.”

In these verses from Job’s speech to his friends, we find an amazing declaration about his belief and trust in God. Also in this speech, Job clearly states that he knows his Redeemer lives. While this could be used as evidence of Jesus’ resurrection and presence throughout eternity, the description Job gives following that line is even more powerful.

The last phrase of verse 25 includes Job saying, “at the last He [referring to the Redeemer] will take His stand on the earth.” This is powerful, because Job looks forward to the end of time and to the point when God, or Jesus, judges the earth.

This is amazing, and to top it off, Job continues in verse 26 by saying, “Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God”. This statement speaks to Job looking forward to a physical resurrection. Job draws attention to after the point his skin is destroyed, which one could make the case as representing death. Job finishes the thought by saying “from my flesh I shall see God”. Job clearly states a belief in a physical resurrection that would be his for holding onto God even though God had appeared to turn His back on Job.

From this passage in Job, and specifically from these couple verses, we see foreshadowing of the judgment at the end of time, and of a physical resurrection that would take place.

Jumping forward to Jesus’ life and ministry in the first century, to a passage found in the gospel of John, we find Jesus push the religious leaders early on in His ministry with a powerful claim pointing forward to the end of time.

In John, chapter 5, starting in verse 24, Jesus tells the Pharisees and those present:

²⁴ “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

²⁵ Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; ²⁷ and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. ²⁸ Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, ²⁹ and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

In this excerpt from Jesus’ challenge to the religious leaders, Jesus makes the case and claim that everyone has a resurrection to look forward to in their future. Whether the two resurrections Jesus describes are two perspectives of the same event, or if Jesus is describing two completely different events, from the way Jesus frames these two resurrections, it is advisable for everyone to seek to be included in the resurrection of life.

From the way Jesus and John frame this message, we are able to choose which resurrection we will be included in. Those who are included in the resurrection of judgment are described as those who committed evil deeds, while those who are included in the resurrection of life are described as having done good deeds.

Does this then mean that belief doesn’t matter?

No. Belief matters – especially belief in Jesus. A technical understanding of Jesus’ message would condemn all of us because we all have committed evil deeds. Belief in Jesus, and belief in the One who sent Him, as Jesus describes in verse 24, is the way to move from the resurrection of judgment to the resurrection of life. According to Jesus, the resurrection of judgment leads only to death. By believing in Jesus, and in God the Father who sent Him, our names, lives, and records are transferred over from death into life.

From Job’s declaration to his friends in the Old Testament moving forward to Jesus’ challenge to some religious leaders, we see the theme of resurrection for all of God’s people as a clear promise we can look forward to experiencing. While not all of God’s people will experience the death Jesus often described as a sleep, specifically the one that looks forward to resurrection, we can know and trust that if we do fall asleep believing in Jesus, the next voice we hear and the first face we see when we open our eyes will belong to Jesus.

While the resurrection Job looked forward to and the two resurrections Jesus describes are still to come in the future, let’s remember and trust the truth that God’s promises are trustworthy. We have spent almost an entire year’s worth of podcasts showing how prophecy and themes from the Old Testament were fulfilled and expanded by Jesus. Some of these prophecies Jesus willingly stepped into, and other prophecies Jesus would have had zero control over.

However, because Jesus came, lived, died, and was resurrected just like what was predicted and foreshadowed in the Old Testament, we can trust God has a grand conclusion to history planned. In God’s conclusion for history, while it may not be welcome news for some people, He will put an eternal end to sin, while stepping forward with all of His people into eternity.

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

As I always open by challenging you, intentionally seek God first in your life. Trust in God’s promises and in Jesus’ sacrifice to cover your sins and believe that God wants you with Him in heaven. Jesus paid the penalty for sin and He offers you the opportunity to move from judgment to life when we choose to place our faith, hope, trust, and belief in Him.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with God. Through a personal relationship with God, discover just how much He loves each of us, and the lengths He was willing to go to redeem you and me from sin. Say thank you to Jesus by giving Him your heart, mind, and focus, and choose each day to live your life in a way that shows other people you are grateful for what Jesus did for you.

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

It is at about this point in our year moving through the gospels where I realize there are more events left in Luke’s gospel than we have adequate time for in the remaining time this year. This happened for the last two gospels, and I was pretty certain this would happen in Luke’s gospel as well, since Luke’s gospel is the longest of the four gospels.

However, while we only have three episodes left and two full chapters of Luke remaining, let’s not focus too hard on what I wasn’t able to include, and instead focus on what we do have time left to focus on from these last chapters in Luke.

With that said, our last podcast episode focused in on Jesus’ trial before the religious leaders. After the religious leaders condemned Jesus as guilty, they still had a problem. Because of Rome’s occupation of their territory, they did not have the right to execute someone, and especially the right to execute someone in a very public, humiliating way. This means that after Jesus was religiously condemned as guilty, He still needed to be condemned worthy of death by the government.

For this dilemma, we then come to another trial Jesus faces, and Luke includes an extra detail that no other gospel includes, which is fascinating in my mind. Let’s read what Luke describes.

Our passage for this episode is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 23, and we will read from the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 1, Luke tells us:

¹ Then the entire assembly stood up and took him to Pilate.

² They began to accuse Jesus by saying, “We found that he stirs up trouble among our people: He keeps them from paying taxes to the emperor, and he says that he is Christ, a king.”

³ Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

“Yes, I am,” Jesus answered.

⁴ Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, “I can’t find this man guilty of any crime.”

Pausing briefly, I am amazed at both Pilate’s response here, and at the way this translation simplified Jesus’ response. Technically Jesus did agree with Pilate, but a more literal reading of Jesus’ response would be that Jesus replied by saying, “It is as you say” or “Those are your words, not mine”.

As I compare various translations, since I don’t know the original Greek language to look back at the source, the translations seem divided along the lines of Jesus agreeing with Pilate verses Jesus telling Pilate that this is not the title He claims.

Either way, I am surprised at how Luke seems to summarize this conversation. According to Luke, after Jesus answered one single question, Pilate declares Him as innocent of any crime.

However, the religious leaders are very unsatisfied with this ruling. Continuing in verse 5, Luke tells us:

⁵ The priests and the crowd became more forceful. They said, “He stirs up the people throughout Judea with his teachings. He started in Galilee and has come here.”

⁶ When Pilate heard that, he asked if the man was from Galilee. ⁷ When Pilate found out that he was, he sent Jesus to Herod. Herod ruled Galilee and was in Jerusalem at that time.

⁸ Herod was very pleased to see Jesus. For a long time he had wanted to see him. He had heard about Jesus and hoped to see him perform some kind of miracle. ⁹ Herod asked Jesus many questions, but Jesus wouldn’t answer him. ¹⁰ Meanwhile, the chief priests and the experts in Moses’ Teachings stood there and shouted their accusations against Jesus.

¹¹ Herod and his soldiers treated Jesus with contempt and made fun of him. They put a colorful robe on him and sent him back to Pilate. ¹² So Herod and Pilate became friends that day. They had been enemies before this.

In Luke’s version of Jesus’ public, civil trial, we discover that Pilate tries to hand Jesus off to Herod because Jesus is from Galilee. However, Herod, while being interested in meeting Jesus, is not all that impressed with Jesus. Herod wanted to see a miracle, but He wasn’t interested in Jesus for who He claimed to be.

As I look at these two very different rulers, and their respective impressions of Jesus when meeting Him, I am amazed at one detail that each event uncovers. With both these meetings, Jesus doesn’t visibly step into the role of king. Jesus doesn’t act like a king for either governor, and Jesus doesn’t really even overtly defend Himself against the accusations of the religious leaders.

This shared detail is powerful, because we discover something amazing about both governor’s in their response to Jesus being claimed as a king. Pilate is reserved and intrigued, because Jesus is not like any self-proclaimed messiah that he had dealt with before. In stark contrast, Herod laughs and mocks Jesus because Jesus doesn’t display any characteristics Herod believed a king would have. Pilate’s response to meeting Jesus is one of curiosity, while Herod’s response is one of mockery.

I suspect this is why only one gospel includes Herod’s brief encounter with Jesus. In the big picture of the cross, Jesus being taken to see Herod is an easy event to exclude, since Jesus stands before Pilate both before and after this very uneventful meeting.

Why then might Luke have included this unique detail?

I suspect that Luke included this, not just to be historically accurate, but to illustrate a powerful truth. When we ask questions of God with an open mind, don’t be surprised if or when God answers. However, if we demand things of God, I’m certain we will be answered with silence.

Herod’s encounter with Jesus was entirely self-serving. Herod didn’t care one bit about who Jesus was or what the religious leaders claimed Jesus to be. Herod simply wanted to see a miracle that Jesus had been rumored to do, but Jesus knew that any miracle given in this context would not bring God glory. A miracle in this context might have even derailed Jesus facing the cross, which was His ultimate mission.

Pilate’s encounter with Jesus, which each gospel shares unique details about, is one where Pilate is curious about Jesus and about the claim that the religious leaders make of Jesus. Pilate isn’t fully sold on the accusations of the religious leaders, but he also doesn’t know what to make of Jesus. It is Pilate’s reservation about this entire event and a partially open mind that let’s Jesus speak briefly.

Jesus’ brief conversation with Pilate prompts Pilate to see Jesus in a completely different frame of reference, and while Pilate ultimately bends to the crowd’s demands to crucify Jesus, he ended that morning with a different impression of Jesus than he began his morning with. Pilate also likely ended that morning with a slightly different impression of the religious leaders than he had before.

We can learn from these two encounters. If we want to hear God speak and if we want God to show up in our lives in powerful ways, we must be open to receiving the Holy Spirit into our lives. Demanding God will do something for us is an easy way to receive silence and disappointment. Instead, let’s honor God, give Him the glory, and praise Him for any and every blessing, challenge, and opportunity to grow that He brings into our lives.

As we come to the end of this 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 be open to receiving the Holy Spirit. When coming before God, intentionally be humble and repentant when bringing God your request and don’t demand that He helps you. A demanding, arrogant spirit will ultimately get the same response Herod received when he met Jesus, and that response was silence.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn what God wants to teach you and to grow closer to Him. When praying and studying, be sure to ask God for His help to understand what you are studying, and be open to what God wants to teach you through the pages, passages, and events included in the Bible. Don’t let anyone get between you and your relationship with 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 try to arrogantly rush into where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him! Remember that even if we don’t understand why, God’s timing is always best!

As we are nearing the end of our year focusing in on prophecies and connections between the Old Testament and Jesus’ life and ministry, I hope this year has been a blessing for you as it has for me. In our last episode, we looked at Jesus keeping His promise to send the Holy Spirit following His ascension to Heaven. For this episode, let’s look at one big thing the Holy Spirit will be working to accomplish through God’s people moving forward from the time of the disciples.

To set the stage for this discussion, let’s look at a prophecy found near the beginning of the Old Testament book of Isaiah, which appears to describe an idealized or future picture of God’s people.

In Isaiah, chapter 2, starting in verse 1, and reading from the New American Standard Bible translation, Isaiah writes:

¹ The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

² Now it will come about that
In the last days
The mountain of the house of the Lord
Will be established as the chief of the mountains,
And will be raised above the hills;
And all the nations will stream to it.
³ And many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
That He may teach us concerning His ways
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For the law will go forth from Zion
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴ And He will judge between the nations,
And will render decisions for many peoples;
And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not lift up sword against nation,
And never again will they learn war.

In these first few verses of Isaiah, chapter 2, we discover a picture that seems to blend what life would be like in heaven with that of earth. In heaven, at the point that is being described, there will be no wars, conflicts, or hostility, and where people of every background come together to the place where God lives to listen and learn from Him. However, the hints at life on earth are present because those who are present within this scene are taking their weapons and turning them into tools. My understanding of heaven, or even looking beyond that to the new earth is that there wouldn’t be any hint of the former sinful world, leading me to speculate there wouldn’t be any swords or spears to turn into tools.

I wonder if the context of this passage instead speaks to what God envisioned His people to be while they were a nation wholly dedicated to Him, while something different happened. Another way of saying this idea is that this was God’s picture of plan A, while what actually happened in history was plan B, C, D, or even E.

While I don’t know where this prophecy fits well into the grand picture of history, one set of phrases and ideas from it are significant for this point in history. In our Isaiah passage, in the last part of verse 3, Isaiah writes, “For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

This set of phrases is significant because of something we read near the end of Luke’s gospel. As Jesus is talking with some of His disciples following His resurrection, He makes a fascinating statement that points back to this idea from Isaiah’s writing. In Luke, chapter 24, starting with verse 44, which is a few verses before this statement to give it context, Luke writes:

⁴⁴ Now He [referring to Jesus] said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵ Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶ and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, ⁴⁷ and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

In this brief summary statement of what Jesus shared with these disciples, He promises them that repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem. This is powerful because it echoes what Isaiah wrote about prophetically. Isaiah wrote “For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

While some might be quick to point out that Isaiah’s emphasis is on the Law of God while Jesus’ emphasis is on the forgiveness of sins, what we are looking at could be pictured as two sides of the same coin. Without the law, forgiveness becomes irrelevant and non-existent. This is because without a law being broken, there is nothing to be forgiven from. In contrast, the law without forgiveness is a death sentence, and nothing worth proclaiming or celebrating.

Instead, when we blend the law with forgiveness, we get an amazing picture of God’s love, His grace, and our need for a Savior who was provided through Jesus. Isaiah says that the law goes forth from Zion, which, if I’m not mistaken, is the name of the mountain and city of God. God proclaims His law for all to hear. However, Isaiah also says that the word of the Lord goes forth from Jerusalem, and part of me wonders if this “word” is the message of forgiveness that Jesus commissions His disciples to share.

With this framing of Isaiah’s prophecy and Jesus’ commission to His disciples, we step into a fascinating understanding of the mission of God’s people living in the period of time following the first century. With this framing, God’s people are called to emphasize God’s law, Jesus’ love, and the great news of forgiveness through what Jesus accomplished for us. Forgiveness never means that we are free to persist in sin. Instead, forgiveness is made available for those of us who turn away from our sins, which is what it means to repent, and for those who turn their lives, minds, hearts, and focus towards God.

However, the task Jesus gives His followers sounds impossible to do. On one hand, it sounds easy, since it is simply sharing the message of Jesus, but on the other hand, it is impossible, because, according to Jesus, only God can draw people towards Himself.

I suspect this is one reason why Jesus challenges His followers to stay in Jerusalem until they had received God’s power, also known as the Holy Spirit, which we focused on in our last episode. With the Holy Spirit’s power and guidance, Jesus’ followers would be fully equipped to share God’s message of forgiveness with the world.

As followers of Jesus, this is our call and our challenge for today. While some might look at history and how those in various Christian groups failed to reflect Jesus’ love, message, and forgiveness to others, we cannot change what happened. We cannot change how they failed. We also cannot even change how we failed.

Instead, we are challenged to lean on the Holy Spirit for strength and guidance and move forward sharing the great news of God’s law, Jesus’ love, and the forgiveness God wants to give everyone who accepts Jesus’ sacrifice for their sins. This is the great news of the gospel, and I suspect that this message is one big part of the “word of the Lord” that unites people from every background.

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

As I always open by challenging you, continue to seek God first in your life and accept Jesus’ sacrifice on your behalf. Don’t minimize the law in your life because that also subtly minimizes Jesus’ sacrifice. Instead, lift up the law and while lifting it up, continually thank Jesus in your heart, mind, and life as you move forward living in a way that says you are thankful for what He gave for us.

Also, intentionally pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow closer to Jesus. Through prayer and studying the Bible, invite the Holy Spirit into your heart and life and let Him reflect God’s love in the world around you.

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

Moving from the night of Jesus’ arrest and to the morning Jesus was ultimately crucified, we arrive at Jesus’ trial before the religious leaders. In order to condemn Jesus to death, the religious leaders needed to find something Jesus was guilty of.

While many of the gospels share different details about what happened during the twelve hours between the garden and the cross, the way Luke’s gospel frames Jesus’ trial is fascinating. Let’s read what happened.

Our passage is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 22, and we will read from the New Living Translation. Starting in verse 66, Luke tells us:

⁶⁶ At daybreak all the elders of the people assembled, including the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. Jesus was led before this high council, ⁶⁷ and they said, “Tell us, are you the Messiah?”

But he replied, “If I tell you, you won’t believe me. ⁶⁸ And if I ask you a question, you won’t answer. ⁶⁹ But from now on the Son of Man will be seated in the place of power at God’s right hand.”

⁷⁰ They all shouted, “So, are you claiming to be the Son of God?”

And he replied, “You say that I am.”

⁷¹ “Why do we need other witnesses?” they said. “We ourselves heard him say it.”

In Luke’s version of Jesus’ trial, I am amazed at what the religious leaders actually latch on to as a condemnation of Jesus. While other gospel writers share this event differently, if we were to take and focus on Luke’s gospel alone, nothing in Jesus’ response sounds worthy of death in my mind.

Oddly enough, according to what we just read in Luke’s gospel, Jesus doesn’t really even claim to be the Son of God.

In case this didn’t stand out for you, let me read this passage again and pay close attention. Reading again from verse 66:

⁶⁶ At daybreak all the elders of the people assembled, including the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. Jesus was led before this high council, ⁶⁷ and they said, “Tell us, are you the Messiah?”

But he replied, “If I tell you, you won’t believe me. ⁶⁸ And if I ask you a question, you won’t answer. ⁶⁹ But from now on the Son of Man will be seated in the place of power at God’s right hand.”

⁷⁰ They all shouted, “So, are you claiming to be the Son of God?”

And he replied, “You say that I am.”

⁷¹ “Why do we need other witnesses?” they said. “We ourselves heard him say it.”

In this passage, all that these religious leaders actually hear is Jesus predicting that God would honor Him, which might not be acceptable in their minds, but it certainly isn’t worthy of death in my mind.

The only other thing Jesus says is that the religious leaders themselves are pressing the specific title onto Him. Jesus calls Himself the Son of Man, while the religious leaders are claiming Jesus’ title is the Son of God.

However, is there something happening behind the scenes in this passage that the religious leaders understand but we might not fully grasp living in a different culture and thousands of years removed from the first century world?

I suspect the answer is a yes.

While the conclusion of this trial was a clear setup according to Luke, because Jesus never really says what they claim to “hear” Him say, perhaps there is something lost in translation, or perhaps this was really the only sliver of an opening these leaders had to condemn Jesus.

The something I suspect that gets lost on us living so far removed from this event is that it appears as though Jesus references back to the unanswerable question He asked the Pharisees just a few days earlier. In Luke, chapter 20, verses 42 and 43, Jesus quotes David from the Old Testament who said: “The Lord said to my Lord, sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.”

While this passage also doesn’t sound that significant, it is believed that David was quoting this conversation as being from God the Father to God the Son. With God the Son being the one to be honored at God’s right hand, we now have a solid context for why these religious leaders were upset with Jesus’ claim.

David has predicted that God’s Son would be the one to sit at God’s right hand, and Jesus has just stepped into claiming that position for Himself from that point forward.

When reading this passage, I am continually amazed at the religious leaders. I am very confident that these leaders understood Jesus’ reference to the position He would be given as equal to Jesus claiming to be God’s Son – even if nothing Jesus directly says claims this title. The religious leaders were smart enough to connect the dots when they wanted to find Jesus guilty of something.

However, the religious leaders were not smart enough to keep connecting the dots to realize that the Messiah God was sending to them would be rejected and killed by them. They didn’t realize that they would ultimately reject the Messiah that they were desperately longing would arrive.

It is the same with us today. Too often, we get so focused on one way of thinking that we stop being able to think there are other options, or other ways of interpreting the facts. Like these religious leaders, we know lots of information, but we have overlaid this information with a thick layer of bias that we cannot begin to see that the same information could really be telling other stories. It is this way when two people with different worldviews look at the same fossil record, or when two different people who are both very opinionated on opposite sides of the political spectrum describe the same political event.

The lenses we have on our eyes called our biases filter our lives through our beliefs. These biases lead to the religious leaders in the first century ultimately killing the Messiah God sent to them because Jesus didn’t fit their biased picture of who the Messiah would be.

Our biases today can just as easily cause us to miss out on signs God is sending or on amazing things He is doing in the world around us. Because our biases and beliefs filter the world around us, we must be extra diligent about what we use to form our biases and our beliefs. If left unchecked, our biases will stop us from truly learning anything new, and these same biases will trap us into missing out on seeing God.

The best way to combat bias in your life is to open up the Bible and read it for yourself. The amazing thing about the Bible is that it challenges every single bias we might have. The Bible challenges every area of science, every angle of politics, every angle of service, every angle of business, and every area of human interaction. The only thing the Bible doesn’t really cover is technology. The only way for you to know whether what I just said is actually true or not is to pick up the Bible and read it for yourself.

With that said, let’s wrap up this podcast with some direct challenges related to this big truth:

As I always begin by challenging you, intentionally seek God first in your life and intentionally place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus. Ask God to help remove any unhealthy biases from your life and ask Him to help you better reflect His love and His character to the world around you!

Also, always pray and study the Bible for yourself. Everyone has an opinion of the Bible, and it can be easy to simply take someone else’s opinion about what the Bible says and agree with it. However, with eternity on the line, accepting someone else’s opinion about the Bible is the worst thing you could do. It is like having a beautifully wrapped present in front of you and a stranger telling you it is just an empty box. If you believe the stranger and never open the gift, you will never truly know what was inside the box!

It’s the same way with the Bible. Don’t let someone else trick you out of discovering God’s gift to you through the pages of 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 fall away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!