Reflective Bible Study

Picking up where we left off in our last episode, our passage and episode for this week gives us a foundation for why our last episode’s prophecy about Jesus spending a season in Egypt would ultimately happen. However, like many of the prophecies we have covered so far, as well as many other prophecies we will look at as we move though this podcasting year, this prophecy seems out of place in the context of the broader passage where the prophecy is found.

In this passage of Jeremiah, the Old Testament book where our prophecy is found, we discover a surprisingly dark prophecy within an otherwise positive and happy portion of scripture. However, when we take a few minutes to focus on this paradox, we discover a powerful truth that can be applied into our own lives living over 2,000 years later.

Our passage and prophecy are found in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 31, and we will read it using the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 10, Jeremiah writes:

¹⁰ Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
And declare in the coastlands afar off,
And say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him
And keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”
¹¹ For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
And redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.
¹² “They will come and shout for joy on the height of Zion,
And they will be radiant over the bounty of the Lord—
Over the grain and the new wine and the oil,
And over the young of the flock and the herd;
And their life will be like a watered garden,
And they will never languish again.
¹³ “Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance,
And the young men and the old, together,
For I will turn their mourning into joy
And will comfort them and give them joy for their sorrow.
¹⁴ “I will fill the soul of the priests with abundance,
And My people will be satisfied with My goodness,” declares the Lord.

¹⁵ Thus says the Lord,
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
Lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
She refuses to be comforted for her children,
Because they are no more.”

Let’s stop reading here. Those of us who are familiar with Jesus’ birth story will recognize the event this prophecy refers to. However, it is amazing that both before and after this prophecy is given, Jeremiah focuses on sharing a positive message about Israel’s redemption from exile, and the promised abundance God has in store for His people.

However, the event that is prophesied is nothing short of tragic. Without the angel warning Joseph in a dream to escape to Egypt, which we looked at in our last episode, Jesus’ life wouldn’t have lasted long. In Matthew’s gospel, chapter 2, starting in verse 16, we read:

¹⁶ Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi. ¹⁷ Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

¹⁸ “A voice was heard in Ramah,
Weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children;
And she refused to be comforted,
Because they were no more.”

In this passage, Matthew’s gospel draws our attention onto how Herod’s savage and hostile action was actually a fulfillment of prophecy. This event was also Satan’s first swift attempt to end Jesus’ life before the plan of salvation could be realized. If the plan of salvation simply needed Jesus to die, then having Him die when only weeks or months old would have been easier from one perspective.

However, the contrasting point of view to this idea is that Jesus would not have then ultimately chosen His death. If Jesus had died as an innocent baby, then while salvation would become an option for all who repent and return to God, we likely wouldn’t have any idea the depth of God’s love for us. The same is true for many, if not all of the other times Satan attempted to kill Jesus prior to the cross. Every attempt on Jesus’ life would not bring glory to God or keep God’s name pure.

Three times come to mind where Satan tried to end Jesus’ life prior to the cross. The time we are focusing in on in this episode when Jesus was a Baby is the first one. If Herod had succeeded, then God would be to blame for not keeping His child safe. God would appear weak because Satan would have easily succeeded at his goal.

The second time is when Jesus is teaching in the Nazareth synagogue and He challenges them with ideas they were not open to accepting. In response to Jesus’ challenge about God valuing gentiles, those in the Nazareth synagogue attempt to push Jesus towards and off of a nearby cliff. However, Jesus miraculously is delivered from this event, and in some divine way the Bible doesn’t describe in detail, Jesus walks through the crowd and away from the town.

If those in the Nazareth synagogue succeeded at throwing Jesus off of the cliff, Jesus’ death would have been 100% the fault of the localized Nazareth synagogue, and a murder that would be emotionally driven and justified by claiming that Jesus spoke hearsay.

Allowing Jesus to reach the cross allows for the stage to be set for all major groups of humanity to reject Jesus, from Judas Iscariot, the disciple and a representative of Christianity, to the Roman secular culture, who carried out the execution. Jesus’ death on the cross could only have happened if Jew, Gentile, and Christian were all united in rejecting Jesus, and as we will discover later this year, that is exactly what happened. If those in the Nazareth synagogue succeeded, Jesus’ rejection and death would not have been because all groups of humanity had rejected Him, and even the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem could have sided with Jesus by denouncing the Nazareth synagogue as being rogue.

The third time Satan attempted to end Jesus’ life before the cross was while Jesus was sleeping in the back of the boat while the disciples were crossing the lake. A sudden, likely supernaturally strong storm caught the disciples off guard, and if Jesus hadn’t have spoken the word to calm the storm, or if the disciples had not gone to wake Jesus up, it is possible that storm could have ended Jesus’ life. However, if that had happened, those in the first century would have concluded that God killed Jesus and His followers, because it was not a death that humanity had directly caused, and God would be implicated in Jesus’ death. At the very least, God would be implicated by allowing the storm that ultimately took the life of His Son in this hypothetical scenario. In this third event, Jesus would not have chosen death, and like the other two possible deaths, while salvation would technically have opened up for humanity, we would not have as clear of a picture of God’s love for us.

Within the framework for this prophecy in Jeremiah, we see a strangely realistic scenario. While God is actively seeking to restore and unify His people while also preparing them for eternity, Satan is actively working to cause difficulty, pain, and even death to all who are even remotely associated with Jesus. In the first century, simply being born within the vicinity of Jesus was a death sentence, as our prophecy and reading of Jesus’ escape to Egypt reveals.

In a similar, but hopefully not too similar, way, allying our lives with Jesus in this life may bring hostility and trials that would not otherwise come. However, allying ourselves with Jesus is the only way to ultimately receive the reward He promises us – specifically the reward that He made available through His trip to earth and His death on the cross.

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 accept Jesus’ sacrifice on your behalf. Understand that allying your life with Jesus may bring Satan’s hostility into your life, but on the other side of his hostility, is a reward that cannot be matched. Choose to lean on Jesus for strength to face Satan’s trials today, so that eternity is guaranteed.

To keep your connection with God strong, always pray and study the Bible for yourself, and grow that personal relationship with God. Through prayer and Bible study, discover a God who loves you more than you can imagine, and a God who was willing to do whatever He could to redeem you from sin.

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

As we continue in Luke’s gospel, we arrive at a passage describing a miracle that seems spontaneous on the surface, but one that I believe Jesus may have planned earlier. In our last episode, we discovered that Jesus spent a Sabbath afternoon in Simon’s home and that Jesus had healed Simon’s mother-in-law. If Luke’s ordering of events at this point in his gospel is chronological rather than categorical, then it would mean Simon, who was also known as Peter, would have been aware of Jesus’ miracle working ability and Simon’s extended family would have already benefitted from Jesus’ power to heal before the significant event that happens in this passage.

However, some scholars believe this event in Luke happened before Jesus’ visit to Simon’s home, and when we read what happened, it may become clear why.

Our passage for this event is found in Luke, chapter 5, and we will read from the New Century Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 1, Luke tells us that

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

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

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

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

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

From this event, I can understand some scholars believing this happened before Jesus’ trip to Simon Peter’s home when Jesus healed Simon’s mother-in-law. From Simon Peter’s response to Jesus’ miracle, he seems surprised that Jesus’ word could direct the fish into their nets. If Simon had known Jesus’ word to be powerful enough to silence and banish demons and to heal the sick, it seems only logical that Jesus could direct fish into a net.

However, I can also see Luke’s description of this event happening in chronological order. The reason I think this is because I believe Jesus knew Simon Peter’s heart better than anyone else. Simon Peter likely needed some convincing beyond simply seeing something miraculous one time to get him to drop everything to follow Jesus. Because of this, I wonder if Jesus subtly began working on Simon Peter before Simon even realized it. This may have begun on the Sabbath in the synagogue when Jesus healed the demon-possessed man. For Jesus to go to Simon’s home that afternoon, it would only be logical that Simon, or members of Simon’s family were present at that synagogue meeting.

It is even possible they sought Jesus out to invite Him to come with them because they knew Simon’s mother-in-law was sick. If Simon Peter wasn’t present at the synagogue that day, I’m confident he would have been present when Jesus healed his mother-in-law and all the people that evening.

What we read about in our last podcast episode appears to lead directly into this event. If Luke’s order of events is accurate, than this means that Simon Peter knew Jesus and was happy to help Jesus by letting Jesus preach from his boat.

However, Simon Peter was not expecting a miracle that impacted him directly. Leading up to this miracle, we see Simon being content helping others, including Jesus, and being supportive of Jesus helping others, but when Jesus shifts the focus onto helping Simon personally, Simon got uncomfortable.

Like many people living today, Simon had no problem helping other people. However, he had a personality and character that did not like receiving help personally. Simon was more than happy to partner with others, but teaming up is different than accepting miraculous help with no strings attached.

Simon represents someone who is happy being self-sufficient and accepting gifts from others is difficult for someone who is happy and content being self-sufficient.

However, Simon also is willing to test Jesus’ words personally, and this makes him one of the most significant disciples Jesus ever invited. When Jesus told Simon to cast his nets in the water to catch some fish, Simon knew this was the worst time of day to fish, but he responded in verse 5 saying, “Master, we worked hard all night trying to catch fish, and we caught nothing. But you say to put the nets in the water, so I will.”

Simon’s response to Jesus emphasized that the best his team could do was nothing. The team of fisherman that night caught nothing. However, Simon responds that he personally would test Jesus’ words regardless of what the others chose to do. The situation quickly turns into something Simon needs all the help he can get to pull in all the fish that got caught in their net.

Simon Peter recognizes that his life is full of sin and that he is unworthy of Jesus’ help. However, Simon needs to realize the state of his life in order to accept Jesus’ invitation. In the same way, when we are deciding whether to come to Jesus or not, we must understand that a self-sufficient attitude is not as useful to God as an attitude that will test Jesus’ promises and try Jesus’ instructions personally, regardless of whether what Jesus’ asks us to do makes sense on the front-end or not.

Going fishing in the day made no sense whatsoever, but after these fishermen, specifically Simon, tested Jesus’ challenge personally, they realized that Jesus’ way works, even if it doesn’t make sense.

The challenge in this passage for all of Jesus’ followers throughout history is to recognize that God’s way is the best way and be willing to follow Jesus even if it doesn’t make sense at first. We are called to test God’s promises and prove them to be true in our own lives. A self-sufficient skeptic will never come to faith in Jesus because they will have too many reasons to assume Jesus’ way won’t work rather than trying it out personally to realize that it does work.

Like Simon Peter, let’s realize that we are sinners and understand that we need Jesus to help us be the people God created us to be!

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

As I always begin by challenging you, intentionally and purposefully seek God first in your life. Choose to let God lead in your decisions each and every day and test His promises to determine the truth of His word.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. Choose to test God’s word in your own life rather than simply taking someone else’s word for it. When eternity is at stake, God’s truth is worth testing for yourself.

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!

As we continue moving forward looking at prophecies Jesus fulfilled from the Old Testament, we come to a prophecy that seems a little out of place. This prophecy, while appearing to be fulfilled clearly in Jesus’ life in a very real way, seems to not fit very nicely in the passage it is placed in within the Old Testament.

While I will be quick to acknowledge that the original language may read more smoothly than the English translation, when reading the English translation of this prophecy, the verse which contains the prophecy is written differently than the verses that follow it.

However, while there may be some awkwardness in the way this prophecy and passage are written, the way this prophecy is written into this passage points to some very fascinating ways of understanding Jesus’ ministry, as well as God’s people in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

With that said, let’s read this passage, with its included prophecy, and discover some things we can learn from it. Our passage and prophecy are found in the book of Hosea, chapter 11, and we will read it using the New American Standard Bible. Starting in verse 1, Hosea writes:

¹ When Israel was a youth I loved him,
And out of Egypt I called My son.
² The more they called them,
The more they went from them;
They kept sacrificing to the Baals
And burning incense to idols.
³ Yet it is I who taught Ephraim to walk,
I took them in My arms;
But they did not know that I healed them.
⁴ I led them with cords of a man, with bonds of love,
And I became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws;
And I bent down and fed them.

Let’s stop reading here. While reading verse 1, it is fascinating seeing how Hosea frames and contrasts Israel and Egypt. In this single verse, we have two statements that seem to stand independent of one another, and each statement doesn’t align with the other, while also not opposing the other.

The first statement says, “When Israel was a youth I loved him”. While Israel is written in a singular form in this verse, this name contains a bunch of different ways we can understand it. At the most literal level, God is speaking of Jacob, who was later renamed Israel, while he was young. Moving to slightly more symbolically, we could also understand God to be speaking of the nation of Israel, and while the nation was young, God loved them.

Before sharing a third way of understanding this statement, some people might be quick to draw a conclusion that if God says He loved the nation of Israel early on in their existence, then that means He stopped loving them at a later point. While I won’t claim to speak for God regarding this point, nothing in the verses we read prompt me to think God’s love for the nation of Israel ever stopped. Instead, God’s love may have expanded into a third way of understanding this statement.

The third way we can understand this statement is seeing Israel as a spiritually connected body of people who are united in bringing glory to God. While the verses surrounding our prophecy draw our attention to how God’s people repeatedly fell away from God, this type of criticism or observation could be made towards every group of people who have ever claimed to be God’s people. While there may be exceptions, on the surface every group of people who God has called seems to struggle with staying allied and aligned with Him. We might fall into this same classification if we say we are allied with God while also not actively doing the things He would want us to be doing.

With that said, let’s move to the second statement, which was the prophecy. Hosea finishes verse one by writing: “And out of Egypt I called My son.”

This statement is classified as a prophecy in the New Testament, in the book of Matthew, following Jesus’ birth. In Matthew’s gospel, chapter 2, starting in verse 13, we read:

¹³ Now when they had gone [referring to the wise men who came with gifts to visit Mary, Joseph, and Jesus], behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”

¹⁴ So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. ¹⁵ He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”

In this short passage that begins Matthew’s transition out of Jesus’ birth, we find a direct reference to Jesus’ time in Egypt being predicted through Hosea’s writings.

From the way Matthew’s gospel frames Jesus’ first years living within this world, we can see an amazing piece of symbolism present. While the literal nation of Israel which had been slaves in Egypt might not have ever believed their time in Egypt, or their exodus, would be prophetic, through Hosea, God draws this connection together.

This type of truth is the same in our lives as well. While some of us begin our journey in a positive place, others among us might begin in what would be considered a very negative place. Some people may feel as though every advantage has been given to them, while others appear to experience non-stop trials. However, regardless of how our stories began, when we were born, which we had no control over, we were given a situation that we must contend with.

While every situation is different, and I can only speak from my own perspective and observation, as we grow up and mature, we will be called into and through a time where we must wrestle out what we believe about the world. One might consider this as forming a worldview or as looking out at the state of the world where we live.

When looking out at the world, whatever it is we are looking to find, we will find. If we want to find examples of love, caring, acceptance, and inclusiveness, there are plenty of examples of this. However, if we set our focus on looking for examples of hate, hostility, violence, and segregation, then we will not have to look far to discover this either.

From a spiritual mindset, we were born into a tyranny, into a world that is filled with sin. Some might metaphorically equate this with the spiritual nation of Egypt. When God calls us to Him, He calls us to come out of the tyranny of the world, and into a life that is closer to Him, into a life that is lived to a higher standard than those around us, and into a life that leaves the past, with its spiritual baggage, behind.

In the history of the nation of Israel, we find this being portrayed as Israel leaves Egypt headed towards the Promised Land. We also discover this in Jesus’ life as He is born into a sin-filled world, with its tyranny, and as we watch Him overcome sin throughout His life and ministry. And we can experience this too when we accept that we were born into a world filled with sin and resolve to invite God into our lives and lead us forward, towards Him, and away from sin.

With God, and faith in Jesus, we will outlast sin, and this happens when we have allied and aligned our lives with God, placing our faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus, and when we live each day to bring glory to 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 choose to live for God today, and each day moving forward. Lean on Jesus for help and guidance, and look forward to the day when He will return to bring us home.

Also, as I regularly challenge you to do, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow closer to God each and every day of your life. While authors, speakers, pastors, or even podcasters have ideas to share, take what you read, hear, and learn, and test it against the truth in the Bible. The more you prayerfully test ideas against the Bible, the stronger your wisdom will grow while also growing 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 give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Continuing in Luke’s gospel, after Jesus is rejected in Nazareth, He travels back to Capernaum and on what may have been the following Sabbath, we see something significant happen. I wonder if Jesus ever actually had a normal Sabbath day at a synagogue in His entire three-year ministry. While the gospel writers include many exceptions, like the one we read in our last episode and the one we will read about in this episode, it is unlikely they would give much space to a normal trip to a synagogue.

This means we are left picturing Jesus’ trips to synagogues being very abnormal or hostile encounters, but it is possible that many were simply normal and uneventful. Calculating an approximate number of synagogue visits, 52 weeks in a year times 3.5 years equals 182. However, I would imagine that there were many Sabbaths Jesus did not visit a synagogue, so for the purposes of this calculating, let’s subtract our total number by 22 down to 160. I would venture a guess that many of these 160 probable synagogue Sabbaths were normal.

However, our passage for this episode describes a more abnormal visit to a synagogue, and this event is recorded as happening soon after Jesus was run out of Nazareth’s synagogue. This episode’s passage comes from Luke’s gospel, chapter 4, and we will read it from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 31, Luke tells us:

³¹ Then he [Jesus] went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people. ³² They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority.

³³ In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, ³⁴ “Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

³⁵ “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.

³⁶ All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!” ³⁷ And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.

Let’s pause reading here because I want to draw our attention onto something significant. If casting a demon out of someone isn’t significant enough, I am amazed that Jesus commands the demon to be quiet after the demon begins to reveal who Jesus really is.

In my mind, Jesus does this for two big reasons.

First, demons can either lie or tell the truth. They usually lie, making any truth they say suspect. If Jesus let the demon truthfully say who He was, it would potentially taint His ministry and witness because it is never wise to trust a demon. Even a 100% truthful demon is untrustworthy because demons are not always 100% truthful. It is even unwise to listen to a demon to try to discern the truth from the error. Demons have had thousands of years of practice lying in convincing ways and they might lie in more ways that we can catch.

It is safest for us to follow Jesus’ example and simply not listen to any demon. If God wants us to learn or know something important or significant, there is an almost zero chance He would use a demon. While God could use a demon, it would not benefit the bigger picture in any positive-for-God way.

Second, there was too much cultural weight surrounding the role of the Messiah as a military leader who would come and overthrow the Romans. Jesus’ arrival to walk a path different from culture’s expectations would benefit from more ambiguity or uncertainty on whether He truly was the Messiah or simply someone else who was significant.

Jesus fulfilled all the Old Testament prophecies related to a Messiah coming and suffering, and He left the prophecies related to His coming as a King largely untouched and waiting for His second coming.

If the people early on in Jesus’ ministry latched on too quickly to Jesus being the Messiah they knew God promised, they would likely slip into believing Jesus came as King and would try to force Him into this role. In other cases, such as the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus sidesteps this very issue because the crowds wanted Him to become their King.

However, this Sabbath day is not over yet. Continuing in verse 38, Luke tells us:

³⁸ Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. ³⁹ So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them.

⁴⁰ At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. ⁴¹ Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.

It appears in this passage that Satan wanted to derail Jesus’ ministry by proclaiming who He was as much as possible. If the demon that Sabbath morning in the synagogue wasn’t enough, many more demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus and they try to make the same proclamation that evening.

When reading this event, it is difficult to escape one huge truth: The words Jesus spoke contained power. We can see this truth in the simple detail that Jesus’ command was powerful enough to cast a demon out of an individual.

However, Jesus’ word is even stronger than this. Jesus’ command isn’t just strong enough to cast demons out of people, but it is also strong enough to silence demons from speaking! That is amazingly significant in the big picture.

Jesus’ command is also powerful enough to reverse and eliminate sickness. Verse 39 describes how Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law, “So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her.” Rebuking something involves speaking, and this tells us Jesus’ word is powerful enough to heal.

On this Sabbath day, we discover a Jesus that is more powerful than we might first imagine. Jesus’ word is strong enough to cast out demons, it is strong enough to silence them and keep them from speaking, and it is strong enough to heal sickness and disease. When facing struggles, challenges, disease, or discouragement in our own life, we should look to the words of Jesus for the power to overcome!

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

As I always challenge you to do, continue to seek God first and place your hope, faith, trust, and belief in Jesus. When challenges come into our lives, choose to recognize them as opportunities to look to Jesus’ words for power to overcome. Jesus is more powerful than what we often give Him credit for, and I believe He is ready, waiting to help us the moment we decide to ask. While some challenges are given to strengthen our character, I believe other challenges are given to remind us it is best to turn to God for help!

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself. A strong personal relationship with God is best developed through personal prayer and Bible study. While praying and studying in small or large groups is beneficial on one level, never give up your own personal study time because through our personal study we are able to grow a personal relationship with God and we are able to strengthen our personal faith. Personal Bible study is the best foundation to grow our faith in Jesus on.

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 or deceived out of where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!