Reflective Bible Study

As we continue moving through John’s gospel, we are focusing in on the details this gospel includes during the 24 hours leading up to Jesus’ death. From the start of chapter 13, all the way to the end of chapter 19, John’s gospel records the 24 hours leading up to Jesus’ death in detail. John takes 7 of the 21 chapters in his gospel to emphasize this single point in time, and looking at exclusively the chapter breaks, we could conclude that one third of John’s gospel focuses on the 24 hours between the special supper Jesus shared with His disciples, to Jesus’ corpse being removed from the cross and buried.

However, I’m jumping ahead a little. While we are most of the way through the details John includes, we are still early on in the details of what happened. In our last episode, we looked at Judas Iscariot betraying Jesus, and for this episode, we begin with Jesus’ arrest and what happened the rest of that night.

Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 18, and we will read it using the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 12, John tells us:

¹² So the Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and bound Him, ¹³ and led Him to Annas first; for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. ¹⁴ Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people.

¹⁵ Simon Peter was following Jesus, and so was another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest, ¹⁶ but Peter was standing at the door outside. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper, and brought Peter in. ¹⁷ Then the slave-girl who kept the door said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” ¹⁸ Now the slaves and the officers were standing there, having made a charcoal fire, for it was cold and they were warming themselves; and Peter was also with them, standing and warming himself.

Let’s pause reading briefly here. When reading this, I am amazed that Peter and one other disciple, after running away to avoid being arrested, followed behind the mob and were ultimately brought into the courtyard of the high priest. I suspect that this was because both disciples wanted to know what would happen to Jesus.

This means that three of Jesus’ disciples were near Jesus during this night. While our passage doesn’t mention him by name, since Judas Iscariot brought the mob, and since Judas Iscariot wanted to see Jesus escape, we can be confident that he was there. Matthew’s gospel describes Judas committing suicide when realizing that Jesus was condemned, and Judas died before Jesus did. With this information, we can conclude that Judas Iscariot was present during the trial of Jesus.

The other person this passage does not name specifically is a disciple who was known to the high priest and this disciple let Peter in. While logic might suggest that this unnamed disciple could have been Judas Iscariot, it would be unlike John to not name Judas. More than any other gospel, John shares names of people involved, and the only disciple never to be named directly is John himself. This gives weight to John being the author of this gospel, and this is why tradition describes John as the disciple who let Peter into the courtyard. I don’t know much about John’s life prior to being a disciple of Jesus, but something in John’s past made him known and recognized by those living with the high priest.

The only named disciple in this passage is Peter, and ironically enough, if Peter had not followed Jesus or been let into the courtyard, Jesus’ prediction would not have happened. In the part of our passage we just finished reading, Peter denied Jesus one time, and before John tells us about Peter’s other denials, he shifts focus to describe the pretrial questioning that took place.

Continuing in verse 19, John tells us that:

¹⁹ The high priest then questioned Jesus about His disciples, and about His teaching. ²⁰ Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together; and I spoke nothing in secret. ²¹ Why do you question Me? Question those who have heard what I spoke to them; they know what I said.” ²² When He had said this, one of the officers standing nearby struck Jesus, saying, “Is that the way You answer the high priest?” ²³ Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify of the wrong; but if rightly, why do you strike Me?” ²⁴ So Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Pausing our reading again, from the way John described this part of Jesus questioning, I am a little intrigued about how John frames this portion of the night.

While the first part of this passage describes Jesus being brought first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was the high priest, in verse 19, during the time Jesus was with Annas, John describes the high priest questioning Jesus: “The high priest then questioned Jesus about His disciples, and about His teaching.” This is also reemphasized in verse 22, when an officer standing near Jesus struck Him and said, “Is that the way You answer the high priest?”

From the way this event is described, we can reach one of two conclusions. The first conclusion we could reach, which is more likely to be the case, is that Annas was the former high priest, and many people still saw him in this role, even if he wasn’t officially the one who held the title. With this logic, he was still considered the high priest because of his past, even though there was a new high priest serving in that role.

The second conclusion we could reach, which is less likely but interesting to consider, is that Caiaphas questioned Jesus while he was with Annas, and this questioning was to discover information that would ultimately be used to condemn Jesus. Because this wasn’t the official trial, Caiaphas would have been a significant questioner, but this happened outside of Caiaphas’ courtroom because they wanted a clear charge to bring against Jesus before they went into court where Caiaphas would sit as judge.

While the first conclusion is more likely, it is fascinating to look at the second conclusion, because it holds a strong parallel. In Jesus’ trial, the prosecuting attorney, and the judge condemning Jesus were the high priest. In our defense trial against the challenges of Satan and the sin in our lives, our Judge and defense lawyer is Jesus. Jesus was tried in a very similar way that He defends us, and with the Judge and best Attorney on our side, nothing Satan can bring our way can break through Jesus’ defense.

However, when the questioning doesn’t amount to much, they move to the official trial. Before moving to focus on the trial, John transitions back to the courtyard to tell us about Peter. Continuing in verse 25, John tells us:

²⁵ Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it, and said, “I am not.” ²⁶ One of the slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the garden with Him?” ²⁷ Peter then denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed.

At the conclusion of our passage, we find Peter’s big regret. While Peter had promised Jesus he would never deny Him, we find Jesus’ prediction happen exactly like Jesus described.

However, while this was Peter’s big failure, and one that he would likely never forget, Peter’s story is far from over. Instead, through Peter’s story, we discover a powerful truth that Jesus came to redeem us, and that even when we fail Jesus, He never gives up on or fails us.

But this is jumping ahead in the story. Jesus is our Redeemer, and in a future episode, we will focus on how Peter is personally redeemed from this monumental failure.

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 let Jesus be your Judge, your Defense Attorney, and especially your Redeemer.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to intentionally and purposefully grow closer to God each and every day. Through a personal relationship with God that is built on prayer and Bible study, discover who God is, what He is like, and the redemption and future He has promised for all of His people!

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!

We have arrived at the place in Mark’s gospel where he begins describing the evening of Jesus’ betrayal and arrest. During the night before this event, Jesus shares a special meal with the disciples, and during this meal, Jesus shares and does some things that surprise the disciples.

Let’s read what happened and discover what we can learn from this last night Jesus spent with His disciples leading up to His crucifixion. Our passage is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 14, and we will read it using the Good News Translation. Starting in verse 17, Mark tells us that:

¹⁷ When it was evening, Jesus came with the twelve disciples. ¹⁸ While they were at the table eating, Jesus said, “I tell you that one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”

¹⁹ The disciples were upset and began to ask him, one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, do you?”

²⁰ Jesus answered, “It will be one of you twelve, one who dips his bread in the dish with me. ²¹ The Son of Man will die as the Scriptures say he will; but how terrible for that man who will betray the Son of Man! It would have been better for that man if he had never been born!”

²² While they were eating, Jesus took a piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples. “Take it,” he said, “this is my body.”

²³ Then he took a cup, gave thanks to God, and handed it to them; and they all drank from it. ²⁴ Jesus said, “This is my blood which is poured out for many, my blood which seals God’s covenant. ²⁵ I tell you, I will never again drink this wine until the day I drink the new wine in the Kingdom of God.”

²⁶ Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.

Pausing our reading here, it is interesting in my mind that Mark really abbreviates this special meal Jesus shares with the disciples. While Mark’s gospel is known in part for summarizing events and moving at a faster pace, what we can discover from Mark’s summary are big, important details that we should pay attention to.

At this supper, Jesus openly declares that one of the disciples would betray Jesus, and this visibly upsets all the disciples. Jesus also uses this as another opportunity to share about His upcoming death, and Jesus tied this death to the scriptures predicting this.

Mark describes how Jesus would identify the betrayer, but we are left to simply wonder if this actually happened. Mark describes Jesus telling the group that He would dip the bread at the same time as the betrayer, but nowhere do we read in Mark’s gospel that this happened, that Judas Iscariot was identified, and we don’t even know when Judas Iscariot leaves to assemble the mob, soldiers, and people to arrest Jesus.

In Mark’s gospel, he also shares a brief, four-verse summary of the last supper and the details of Jesus breaking bread and sharing it with the disciples, passing a cup around, and giving a symbolic meaning to both the communion bread and communion wine.

However, what Mark shares next is powerful. After the group of remaining disciples leave with Jesus for the Mount of Olives, continuing in verse 27:

²⁷ Jesus said to them, “All of you will run away and leave me, for the scripture says, ‘God will kill the shepherd, and the sheep will all be scattered.’ ²⁸ But after I am raised to life, I will go to Galilee ahead of you.”

²⁹ Peter answered, “I will never leave you, even though all the rest do!”

³⁰ Jesus said to Peter, “I tell you that before the rooster crows two times tonight, you will say three times that you do not know me.”

³¹ Peter answered even more strongly, “I will never say that, even if I have to die with you!”

And all the other disciples said the same thing.

In this last portion of this passage, I am amazed that Jesus clearly restates His imminent death, and that He will be raised back to life. He tells the disciples that after He has been raised to life, He will return to Galilee ahead of them.

However, it really appears as though Peter missed Jesus’ statement about resurrection, that he ignored yet another prediction of Jesus’ upcoming death, and he devoted his focus onto Jesus saying that all the disciples would leave Him.

Peter, being as outspoken as he is described in all the gospels, boldly makes the claim that he would die with Jesus and that he would never deny Him. However, Jesus counter challenges Peter with the prediction that before a rooster had crowed two times that very night, Peter would openly say three times that he didn’t know Jesus.

Mark also adds that Peter wasn’t the only one to make this promise to Jesus. All 10 remaining disciples make this promise to Jesus as well.

The amazing part of Jesus challenge is that, while all 11 disciples promise Jesus they would stick with Him to the end, only Peter is challenged and warned about openly denying Jesus. I go back and forth in my mind if this challenge is a positive one or not.

While Jesus does challenge Peter in this way, simply receiving this challenge implies that Peter will be in a place where people would recognize he is a follower of Jesus. This means that Peter will not have abandoned Jesus as significantly as the other disciples will. It is implied that the other disciples go into hiding – avoiding everyone – while Peter will be in a place where he could be recognized and singled out.

The challenge Jesus gives Peter does sound negative. After all, who wants to be told they will deny the person they looked up to and were friends with for over 3 straight years. The disciples’ response to Jesus telling them they will scatter is where our focus is drawn to in this passage, because it is what the disciples focused in on.

However, I believe Jesus told the disciples this not because He wanted them to obey His prediction, but because He wanted them to look past their upcoming failure to His upcoming triumph. While this weekend marked the triumph of sin and sinners, Sunday would open a new week, marking the triumph of Jesus and the ultimate defeat of sin.

It is in the resurrection Jesus’ disciples missed seeing predicted that Jesus wanted them to focus in on. With less than 24 hours before His death, Jesus wanted the disciples to look past their failure and His death and onto the resurrection.

In a similar way, while we are able to look back and see the crucifixion and resurrection clearly, when we face struggles, trials, and challenges in our lives today, let’s remember to look past our failures and these challenges, and forward to our future resurrection and recreation when Jesus returns to end this age in history and take us home!

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 and place Him first in your life. When facing failures in our present or past, choose to forgive yourself and move forward, focusing on what Jesus accomplished and what He has promised each of us when we accept the gift of His life and death on our behalf.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn, grow, and open your heart to God, to Jesus, and to the Holy Spirit. Through prayer and Bible study, discover firsthand what God wants to teach you through the pages of His Word and discover how we can claim the promise and hope for a future, eternal life 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 deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

After John describes Jesus’ teaching and prayer on the night before Jesus’ crucifixion, He shifts focus onto Judas coming with the mob to betray Jesus. However, while John includes a detail that most, if not all, of the other gospel writers include, John also includes an amazing detail that is unique to his gospel account of this event. Through these two details, we discover something powerful about Jesus, and how facing the cross was His choice.

Our passage for this episode is found in John’s gospel, chapter 18, and we will read it using the New Living Translation. Starting in verse 1, John tells us that:

¹ After saying these things, Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley with his disciples and entered a grove of olive trees. ² Judas, the betrayer, knew this place, because Jesus had often gone there with his disciples.

³ The leading priests and Pharisees had given Judas a contingent of Roman soldiers and Temple guards to accompany him. Now with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons, they arrived at the olive grove.

⁴ Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them. “Who are you looking for?” he asked.

⁵ “Jesus the Nazarene,” they replied.

“I am he,” Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.) ⁶ As Jesus said “I am he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground! ⁷ Once more he asked them, “Who are you looking for?”

And again they replied, “Jesus the Nazarene.”

⁸ “I told you that I am he,” Jesus said. “And since I am the one you want, let these others go.” ⁹ He did this to fulfill his own statement: “I did not lose a single one of those you have given me.”

¹⁰ Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave. ¹¹ But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?”

In this event, while the other three gospel writers include the detail about someone slashing off the ear of the high priest’s slave, John gives both the name of the slave and the name of the disciple who did the slashing. Part of me wonders if following this event, this slave joins the early church, because Luke’s gospel includes the detail about Jesus healing his ear, and John knows this slave’s name.

However, while this last detail is powerful, what John describes happened earlier is even more amazing. Several of the other gospels describe Judas Iscariot taking the lead and greeting Jesus with a kiss to let the mob know which one was Jesus. However, John’s gospel prompts us with the powerful truth that Jesus steps forward willingly to meet the mob.

Not only does Jesus step forward, but He also takes the lead, perhaps even before Judas Iscariot can come forward. Jesus asks the mob directly who they are looking for, and after the mob has responded, Jesus replies that He is the One they were looking for. Verses 5 and 6 describe Jesus’ response and what happened by saying, “‘I am he,’ Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.) 6 As Jesus said ‘I am he,’ they all drew back and fell to the ground!”

While Jesus then repeats His question and they reply, I am amazed by John’s detail that one short but powerful declaration from Jesus knocks the entire mob to the ground. While Jesus may have momentarily let His divinity shine through His humanity at that moment, the detail that the mob was knocked off their feet is not as amazing as the conclusion we can draw from this detail.

Through one simple declaration, Jesus knocked the mob off their feet, which one might think would be enough to wake up this mob that arresting Jesus might be futile. However, they are unconvinced, and follow through with their plans for arrest.

While this might appear like a success on the part of the mob, this entire event was clearly within Jesus’ control. If Jesus could knock the mob down with a simple three-word declaration, nothing the mob could do would overpower Jesus if He was unwilling to surrender. The voice that calmed the storm, that cast out demons, and that taught God’s love was able to knock down this band of hired enemies, but it wasn’t enough to break through the mob’s hard hearts.

Jesus was fully capable of stopping the mob, but He chose not to. When seeing that Jesus could but wouldn’t defend Himself, Peter jumps up to defend Jesus. While Peter’s actions may have been prompted in part by Jesus’ earlier challenge to Peter about denying Him, and Peter assuring Jesus that he would be willing to die for Him, I suspect that this defense also prompted Peter to stand out in the minds’ of those in the mob. This is relevant because many of those in the courtyard we will look at in our next episode likely were also in the mob that arrested Jesus. 

Peter in this passage displays a similar belief as Judas Iscariot, even though both men were very different. It is likely that both Peter and Judas Iscariot believed that Jesus was the Messiah, and it is also likely that both Peter and Judas Iscariot believed the Messiah would last forever.

Where these two disciples differed the most was Judas likely believed Jesus would not let Himself be arrested, or at least condemned, while Peter understood that Jesus likely would be crucified because of this. Neither one of these disciples understood the resurrection Jesus had repeatedly predicted; and neither one of these disciples believed Jesus would return from the dead to then last forever. Both men did not understand the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah’s sacrifice, because that culture had discounted or ignored all passages suggesting a suffering Messiah.

However, the huge conclusion we find in this event is again shared when Jesus challenges Peter about defending Jesus with violence. Our passage concludes with Jesus’ words in verse 11, “Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?”

Jesus willingly chose the cross for you and for me, and because of this, we are able to see God’s love for us. Jesus was not forced to face the cross, but He was willing to face suffering, pain, ridicule, and death in order to show us God’s love and just how far God would go to redeem humanity.

Jesus loves each of us more than we can even imagine, and God’s love for us led Jesus to face the worst, most painful, and most humiliating death imaginable. The sin in our lives and our past deserves this death, but Jesus was willing to pay for our debt in order to show us God’s love for us and to give us a way to be saved and redeemed for eternity.

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 the gift Jesus offers to us through the death He chose. Everything in our passage pointed to Jesus willingly choosing to be arrested, and as we move through this event, we’ll see more examples of Jesus humbly following the path towards death when He clearly did not deserve death and could have easily given up.

With that said, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself in order to grow closer to God each and every day. Through prayer and study, we can grow a personal relationship with God, and through a personal relationship with God, discover for yourself just how much God loves you and me!

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!

Leading up to the night Jesus was betrayed and arrested, Mark’s gospel pulls two events together and connects them. However, it is likely that these two events did not happen as closely as Mark and Matthew describe them. Instead, while these two events happened within a week of each other, these two gospel writers connect the two events because together, these events give context for what will take place during the following weekend.

Reading this passage, which could be broken apart into three different parts, gives us an amazing insight into how God’s timing for events supersedes our timing and our planning. Let’s read about what happened, and discover what Mark teaches us about the events leading up to Jesus’ betrayal.

Our passage is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 14, and we will read from the New International Version. Starting in verse 1, Mark tells us:

¹ Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. ² “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”

Pausing our reading here, these two verses make up the first part in this passage. Basically, Mark tells us that the chief priests and other religious leaders wanted to arrest Jesus secretly and kill Him, but they decided to wait until after the festival because they feared the people would riot.

However, Mark then jumps back to an event that happened a few days earlier. If what we just read happened on a Wednesday, then the event being described likely could have happened the Thursday, Friday, or Sabbath of the week before. We can conclude this because John’s gospel gives a clear timetable for the event Mark is about to describe.

Continuing in verse 3, Mark then tells us:

³ While he [referring to Jesus] was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

⁴ Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? ⁵ It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

⁶ “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷ The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. ⁸ She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. ⁹ Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

This marks the end of the second part of our passage. While Mark doesn’t say who prompted the condescending remarks towards the woman and her gift, the context of what happens next gives us a clear clue that Judas Iscariot was among those who were leading the belittling remarks towards this woman. John’s gospel also validates this by telling us it was clearly Judas Iscariot, and John tells us that he challenged this use of the money, not because he cared for the poor, but because he wanted a larger moneybag that he could more easily help himself to.

However, Jesus clearly foreshadows this event as preparing His body for burial. The two events in that culture where people were anointed were when they were set apart or dedicated as a ruler or king, and when they were a corpse and were being buried. The first anointing is a symbolic and spiritual action, while the second anointing was primarily for very practical reasons, otherwise known as masking the smell of decaying flesh.

While the woman anointing Jesus with the perfume likely could sense Jesus nearing the culmination of His ministry, everything in that culture pointed to the Messiah stepping into the role of king. She likely gave Jesus this type of gift because she wanted to be the first to anoint Him as king.

However, Jesus validates the gift she gives, but then attributes the symbolism onto the other reason for anointing. Instead of anointing Jesus who would become king, Jesus tells everyone present that this anointing was preparing Him for His burial.

We could add this statement as one more example of Jesus foreshadowing His upcoming death, and the disciples, Judas Iscariot especially, missing the obvious conclusion to Jesus’ clear statement.

The third part of this passage shifts back to the timing of the first event, just days before the Passover celebration. Continuing in verse 10, Mark tells us:

¹⁰ Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. ¹¹ They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

In these two concluding verses, we discover that while the chief priests and religious leaders decided to wait until after the festival, Judas Iscariot’s decision changes their plans. While Judas Iscariot may have plotted and planned how to respond to Jesus’ rebuking him because of his response regarding the woman’s gift, it took several days for Judas to conclude that betraying Jesus was the way to get back at Him.

Judas Iscariot ignored, forgot, or was blinded into discounting all the foreshadowing Jesus had shared regarding His upcoming death, His upcoming betrayal, and His upcoming resurrection. Prior to this weekend, even before Judas Iscariot knew he would be the betrayer, Jesus had warned the disciples about the events of this weekend.

Everything in this passage leads me to believe human timing for Jesus’ death should have happened after this weekend festival. However, God’s timing for this event clearly dictated the time Jesus would die, and all the details and human plans are rewritten during the 48 hours or so leading up to the cross to make humanity’s planning and timing match God’s plan. The religious leaders had decided to wait until after the Passover; however, Judas Iscariot’s offer of betrayal changes their plans to match the timing God had planned from the beginning of our world.

In our own lives, it is always good for us to remember that while we can plan and move towards goals in our own lives, it is always best to leave room in our plans and expectations for God to step in and redirect our lives to match His plan for each of us. When God steps in and changes our plans, we can choose to be upset, or we can be grateful that God is bringing us into alignment with His will. When faced with that choice, I always recommend being grateful because when God redirects our lives, it reminds us that He cares about us and that He wants the best for us from eternity’s perspective!

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 leave room for Him to step in and change your plans and your goals to match His will for your life. Invite God to come into your heart and let the Holy Spirit lead and guide you into matching your goals and plans to His will for you!

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. While other people can have ideas and great things to think about, filter everything you learn from other through the truth of the Bible! Through prayer and Bible study, discover how God opens our hearts to Him and His will and decide to invite Him into your heart!

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