Reflective Bible Study

Continuing our journey through Mark’s gospel, we come to an event that Mark breaks into two parts. In the first portion of this event, we have one of two places where the gospel writers record Jesus as hungry. It is interesting that in both of the times Jesus is recorded as being hungry, He faces a similar situation.

The first time Jesus is identified as hungry was while he was fasting in the wilderness for 40 days leading up to being tempted by Satan. The second time is what we will be focusing in on at the start of our passage for this event.

Let’s read about what happened. Our passage is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 11, and we will read from the New Century Version. Starting in verse 12, Mark tells us that:

¹² The next day as Jesus was leaving Bethany, he became hungry. ¹³ Seeing a fig tree in leaf from far away, he went to see if it had any figs on it. But he found no figs, only leaves, because it was not the right season for figs. ¹⁴ So Jesus said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And Jesus’ followers heard him say this.

Let’s pause reading here. On the surface, this event sound entirely unlike the first time the gospels mention Jesus as feeling hunger, but while the situations were very different, in both cases, Jesus does not get his hunger satisfied – at least initially.

In a similar way, when we face feelings of hunger, whether they are feelings of hunger that are literal or feelings of hunger that are spiritual, oftentimes we are unable to satisfy those feelings immediately. Sometimes when we feel hungry, there is no immediate way for us to satisfy our hunger. In other times, when we feel hungry, we intentionally push our hunger aside for more immediate or pressing concerns.

Regardless of what prompts our feelings of hunger, if you aren’t able to satisfy your hunger, understand that Jesus has been there too.

Also in this event, we are introduced to a fig tree that was full of life, but it had no fruit. Mark tells us this was because it wasn’t the right season for figs, but that detail does not appear to matter to Jesus. In the context of this event, Jesus expected a tree that had life to also have fruit.

While this is a very literal event, I wonder if Jesus responds in a way that emphasizes a spiritual truth. If we are full of life while alive on this earth, I wonder if we are also equally expected to be bearing fruit. While we face different seasons in our lives, I wonder if every season of our lives is able to bear a different type of fruit. I wonder if in the drier seasons, our fruit is more internal, growing more trust, more dependence, and more faith, while during other seasons, our fruit is able to be more visible, and we are able to share this spiritual fruit with others.

While we normally think of fruit trees as having fruit only during the season for picking fruit, if it isn’t winter time when many of these trees go dormant, every other season has these fruit trees working on producing fruit. In the spring, the trees work on buds and flowers that will ultimately become fruit, and in the summer, we see fruit beginning to form and grow. It is only when we reach harvest time that the fruit is ripe and ready to pick.

I wonder if Jesus didn’t see any evidence of any fruit growing on this fig tree. Regardless of whether it was the right season to pick figs or not, if the tree had leaves on it, it would be reasonable to expect it to have some evidence of figs growing even if these figs were not yet ripe. I wonder if this tree showed no fruit at all.

Because of the lack of fruit, Jesus curses the tree saying “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.”

Jumping down a few verses to the next day, we pick back up in verse 20:

²⁰ The next morning as Jesus was passing by with his followers, they saw the fig tree dry and dead, even to the roots. ²¹ Peter remembered the tree and said to Jesus, “Teacher, look! The fig tree you cursed is dry and dead!”

²² Jesus answered, “Have faith in God. ²³ I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, fall into the sea.’ And if you have no doubts in your mind and believe that what you say will happen, God will do it for you. ²⁴ So I tell you to believe that you have received the things you ask for in prayer, and God will give them to you. ²⁵ When you are praying, if you are angry with someone, forgive him so that your Father in heaven will also forgive your sins. [ ²⁶ But if you don’t forgive other people, then your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins.]”

In this event, Jesus turns the now dead fig tree into being an example of the power of faith and prayer. I think too often, we immediately jump to this second illustration while missing focusing on the importance of being fruitful.

Actually, as I mention this, I think that all of these characteristics are connected. I don’t believe we can have visible faith and powerful prayer without being fruitful and being fruitful is evidence of a powerful faith and a powerful prayer connection with God.

I don’t believe God wants us to run around killing fruit trees or throwing mountains into the sea with our faith. Instead, I believe He wants us to know that our faith is powerful and when we have faith in Jesus, we can do more with God than we could even imagine. God wants our faith and our prayers to be fruitful, and when we are being fruitful we are living the lives God created us to live!

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 be fruitful in whatever season you are in. Whether you are resting in the winter or growing fruit at various stages during the spring, summer, and fall seasons, intentionally be fruitful with what God has blessed you with in the season of life you are in.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow a strong faith and connection with God. Only when we are connected with God can we produce the fruit God wants us to have in our lives and when we are connected to Jesus, we are able to be fruitful from eternity’s perspective!

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!

As we have moved through our year looking at John’s gospel, we are just a little over half way through the year, but with how John’s gospel is written, we are about to slow down and focus in on the series of events leading Jesus to the cross. While Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead prompts the latest wave of religious opposition to Jesus, we now arrive at the week leading up to Jesus’ death. To start this week off, we find Jesus returning to Bethany and enjoying a special meal.

Within this meal, we discover several of the final pieces moving into place regarding Jesus being hoisted onto the cross a mere six days later.

Let’s read our passage and discover what happened. Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 12, and we will read it from the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 1, John tells us that:

¹ Six days before Passover, Jesus arrived in Bethany. Lazarus, whom Jesus had brought back to life, lived there. ² Dinner was prepared for Jesus in Bethany. Martha served the dinner, and Lazarus was one of the people eating with Jesus.

³ Mary took a bottle of very expensive perfume made from pure nard and poured it on Jesus’ feet. Then she dried his feet with her hair. The fragrance of the perfume filled the house.

⁴ One of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was going to betray him, asked, ⁵ “Why wasn’t this perfume sold for a high price and the money given to the poor?” ⁶ (Judas didn’t say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the moneybag and carried the contributions.) ⁷ Jesus said to Judas, “Leave her alone! She has done this to prepare me for the day I will be placed in a tomb. ⁸ You will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me with you.”

⁹ A large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was in Bethany. So they went there not only to see Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom Jesus had brought back to life. ¹⁰ The chief priests planned to kill Lazarus too. ¹¹ Lazarus was the reason why many people were leaving the Jews and believing in Jesus.

During this dinner, we can see three huge ideas present that are key details laying the foundation leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion.

The first detail we’ll focus on is the last one present in our passage, but the one that may have prompted this entire event. Verses 10 and 11 draw our attention onto an interesting side note: “The chief priests planned to kill Lazarus too. Lazarus was the reason why many people were leaving the Jews and believing in Jesus.”

In an interesting twist, the religious leaders want to not only kill Jesus, but they also decide they should kill the most significant person Jesus raised from the dead. Not only is this funny in my mind, since these religious leaders want to kill someone God wanted alive, but this detail also stresses how far these religious leaders were willing to break God’s law to suit their own purposes. If you’re wondering how I know God wanted Lazarus alive, I arrive at this conclusion using this simple logic: If God didn’t want Lazarus alive, Jesus would not have raised Lazarus from the dead.

However, the least contested commandment in all of God’s Ten Commandments is the command telling us to not kill, or in some translations, the command is to not murder. While warfare presents a unique situation in the Bible, the religious leaders plotting to kill both Jesus and Lazarus is a direct violation of this commandment, especially when framed in the way Jesus framed breaking the law in His famous Sermon on the Mount. I have no idea whether the religious leaders succeeded or followed through with their plans to kill Lazarus, but by plotting for Lazarus’ death, these religious leaders display a complete disregard for God and God’s Law even if they believed it was the only way to save the nation. In this event, John draws our attention to how far the religious leaders would be willing to go against the clearest commandment in God’s law.

However, not only this, but in this event, the stage is also set for Judas Iscariot’s betrayal. While John does not include the details of Judas Iscariot’s meeting with the religious leaders to set up his betrayal, John does tell us how offended Judas Iscariot was at Jesus reprimanding him for speaking out against Mary’s gift.

There is some speculation over what may have prompted Mary to give Jesus this gift. While Jesus uses it to foreshadow His upcoming death, Mary may have believed she was anointing Jesus before He would step into kingly glory – specifically into the Messiah that the first century Jewish culture believed the Messiah would take.

However, I wonder if Mary’s gift, which all the gospels describe as being a very expensive gift, was also subtly a way of saying “Thank You” to Jesus for returning Lazarus back to life. Jesus did not raise Lazarus from the tomb in order to be paid, however, there was no taking this gift back, and Mary knew it. In a powerful way, Mary’s gift to Jesus said thank you to Him for all of Jesus’ kindness, generosity, mercy, and help that He had given to Martha and her. It is very possible that Jesus had healed Mary from demon possession, Jesus had taken a personal interest in their family, and Jesus had raised her brother from death. Mary knew this perfume was the best she had, but even her best gift could not come close to repaying Jesus for everything He had done for her.

Judas Iscariot, who John tells us was only thinking selfishly, doesn’t care about the gift Mary gives to Jesus, only the amount that he could have pocketed while the other disciples were not paying attention. Because Jesus validates Mary’s gift and insults him in the process, Judas Iscariot then seeks out the religious leaders in order to betray Jesus.

However, Judas Iscariot likely wasn’t paying very close attention, because Jesus attributes Mary’s gift in this event to something that none of those present would have guessed. With Mary’s expensive gift, Jesus attributes this sacrifice to preparing His body for burial, which logically only happens after one has died. This is significant, because regardless of when this death and burial would happen, the Jewish culture believed the Messiah would last forever, and lasting forever does not include death and burial.

Except that in Jesus’ case, lasting forever does include a death and burial, because following Jesus’ death and burial is a resurrection. While the disciples should have known this, the gospels tell us that they were too afraid to ask the questions they needed to ask to understand this truth. The disciples missed knowing God’s plan for Jesus’ life before Jesus died, was buried, and was raised from the dead.

As followers of Jesus, we have foreshadowing in Jesus’ experience. In our own lives, we may face death and burial, but if we do, when we fall asleep with our faith in Jesus, we rest in peace awaiting a resurrection. Jesus defeated death, and when we have allied with Jesus, death cannot and will not defeat us. With Jesus, even if we rest in His peace, our lives are safe waiting for resurrection when we place our trust in Him!

While this event sets the stage for Jesus’ crucifixion on a number of levels, we are also assured that through Jesus’ death, we can have a new life with God, and our new life with God can begin today and extend into 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 place your faith, your hope, your trust, and your belief in Him. Trust that regardless of what happens in this life, when we have allied with Jesus, our future is safe with God. Our future is eternity with Jesus!

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn, grow, and move closer to God. Through regular prayer and Bible study, develop a solid foundation for your relationship with God and discover what God wants to teach you personally through His Word. While other people can have interesting ideas, filter what you read, see, and hear through the truth found in the Bible.

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

As we continue moving through the gospel of Mark, we come to an event where Mark gives the man being healed a name, while the other gospels that include this event chose not to. I don’t know why Mark gives this detail, but perhaps it was because this man was known in the region of Jericho and he helped the Christian church get started there.

From what I can tell, the man Jesus healed is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible, but what Mark tells us about this event is powerful and an example we can follow in our own lives.

Let’s read what happened. Our passage is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 10, and let’s read from the Good News Translation. Starting in verse 46, Mark tells us that:

⁴⁶ They came to Jericho, and as Jesus was leaving with his disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus son of Timaeus was sitting by the road. ⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus! Son of David! Have mercy on me!”

⁴⁸ Many of the people scolded him and told him to be quiet. But he shouted even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁹ Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”

So they called the blind man. “Cheer up!” they said. “Get up, he is calling you.”

⁵⁰ So he threw off his cloak, jumped up, and came to Jesus.

⁵¹ “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.

“Teacher,” the blind man answered, “I want to see again.”

⁵² “Go,” Jesus told him, “your faith has made you well.”

At once he was able to see and followed Jesus on the road.

When reading this event, several details stand out that are worth paying attention to. In these details, we see an amazing picture of faith in Jesus.

The first detail is that we must be paying attention. While Bartimaeus might not have had the money to pay a guide to help him travel to find Jesus, he is very aware of Jesus being nearby and when he hears that Jesus is coming near him, he is ready. In our own lives, we should be paying attention and ready to come to Jesus when He is near. If we are already following Jesus, this could also challenge us to be paying attention for opportunities God sends our way and to be ready to help those in need.

The next detail for us to pay attention to is what Bartimaeus shouts to get Jesus’ attention. In Bartimaeus’ own words, we see the most basic prayer of faith. Bartimaeus says, “Jesus! Son of David! Have mercy on me!” This short prayer is amazing, because it contains the two most important parts of prayer in it. Bartimaeus’ prayer acknowledges Jesus for who He is and it acknowledges us for who we are. When we pray, regardless of the type of prayer we pray, we should always acknowledge God for who He is, and we should acknowledge us for who we are.

In Bartimaeus’ case, he knew Jesus could heal him, and he knew that he needed healing. Asking for mercy is also interesting because it subtly recognizes that his blindness could be a punishment for a past sin. Bartimaeus’ request acknowledges that his past was not perfect, and with an imperfect past, he recognizes his need for a Savior. Every one of us has an imperfect past, and because of this we need Jesus as our Savior.

Next, we discover the crowd telling Bartimaeus to be quiet and to stop. When we demonstrate our faith in Jesus in visible ways, there will be resistance and other people will tell us to stop. If we are seeking a miracle or breakthrough in our own lives, stopping is the worst mistake we could make at this point. If Bartimaeus had stopped shouting, he would not have been healed.

When we face resistance to our visible faith, like Bartimaeus, we should resolve to lean in to our faith and display it stronger. When Bartimaeus was told to be quiet, he shouted even more loudly.

I am always surprised by the crowd in this event. On one hand, they want Bartimaeus to be quiet, but if they had stopped for a moment to pay attention, they would have realized that there was a miracle opportunity present, and if this crowd was like most crowds that followed Jesus, they would have wanted the opportunity to see another miracle.

Next in this event, Jesus acknowledges Bartimaeus and calls him to Him. Jesus’ message filters through the crowd and those who had been telling Bartimaeus to be quiet and now they get to tell Bartimaeus that Jesus has heard him.

When Bartimaeus is told Jesus has heard him, Mark tells us in verse 50 that, “he threw off his cloak, jumped up, and came to Jesus.” Some Bible scholars see this verse as significant. By throwing off his cloak, we see Bartimaeus leaving behind his earthly possessions when Jesus calls him to come. Bartimaeus does not hold onto anything alongside his faith in Jesus. When God calls us to follow Jesus, we might not be called to give up everything in our lives. However, we will be called to place Jesus first and to dedicate what we have been given to His service.

Next, when Bartimaeus comes near to Jesus, we see Jesus ask a simple question. Mark tells us in verse 51 that Jesus asks Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?”

While this might sound like an obvious question, there is nothing in what Bartimaeus shouted to indicate how he wanted mercy to be shown to him. Having mercy could be giving him back his eyesight, but it also could have been ending his life at that moment with the assurance of an eternal life in heaven. Having mercy could be asking for assurance that his sins were forgiven. While Jesus’ question sounds obvious, when we look a little closer, it is actually reasonable. Jesus has heard the cry for help, and He responds by asking Bartimaeus how would like to be helped.

Bartimaeus responds by requesting his eyesight to be returned, and Jesus grants this request. Jesus attributes this miracle to Bartimaeus’ faith. While it sounds simple, I see the key piece of this miracle not simply having a blind, directionless faith. Instead, Bartimaeus’ visible faith was placed in Jesus, and from Bartimaeus’ example, when we display our visible faith in Jesus, we can expect God to move in powerful ways.

The closing statement in this event is amazing. After being healed, Bartimaeus chooses to follow Jesus. Bartimaeus has left his cloak behind and dedicated himself to Jesus. When Jesus comes into our lives, we are challenged to follow Jesus. While Jesus told Bartimaeus to “go”, Bartimaeus chooses the direction he will go as intentionally following Jesus.

The miracle Bartimaeus experienced happened because he had faith in Jesus and because he made his faith visible. Jesus did not do this miracle seeking another follower, but when Jesus has shown mercy and restored our lives, what better way do we have to say thank you to Jesus than to dedicate our lives to Him! Jesus gave Bartimaeus his life back, and Bartimaeus, as an example for others to follow, dedicates his restored life back to Jesus!

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 dedicate your life to God. Regardless of if you have seen God show up in your life or not, choose to dedicate yourself to Him for no other reason than because of what Jesus did for you when He faced the cross. Jesus died the death we deserve and when we accept His sacrifice on our behalf, He offers us the eternal life He deserved in its place.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. Through personal prayer and study, discover how we can open our hearts to Jesus and grow a personal relationship. Don’t let anyone get between you and Jesus and choose to grow closer to Jesus each and every day.

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!

Over our last two episodes, we looked closely at Jesus’ miracle raising Lazarus from the dead. In many ways, this was an unprecedented miracle, because Lazarus had been dead and buried longer than any resurrection miracle prior to this. And this miracle serves as a powerful foundation for us to place our faith on that when we have chosen Jesus, He will be able to raise us from the grave just like He raised Lazarus.

Because this miracle was so powerful and amazing, we come to our passage for this episode, which focuses on what happened because Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. In this passage, we see not only the response of the people present and those they told, but also of the religious leaders who already disliked Jesus.

Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 11, and we will read it using the Good News Translation. Starting in verse 45, John tells us:

⁴⁵ Many of the people who had come to visit Mary saw what Jesus did, and they believed in him. ⁴⁶ But some of them returned to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. ⁴⁷ So the Pharisees and the chief priests met with the Council and said, “What shall we do? Look at all the miracles this man is performing! ⁴⁸ If we let him go on in this way, everyone will believe in him, and the Roman authorities will take action and destroy our Temple and our nation!”

⁴⁹ One of them, named Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, said, “What fools you are! ⁵⁰ Don’t you realize that it is better for you to have one man die for the people, instead of having the whole nation destroyed?” ⁵¹ Actually, he did not say this of his own accord; rather, as he was High Priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus was going to die for the Jewish people, ⁵² and not only for them, but also to bring together into one body all the scattered people of God.

⁵³ From that day on the Jewish authorities made plans to kill Jesus. ⁵⁴ So Jesus did not travel openly in Judea, but left and went to a place near the desert, to a town named Ephraim, where he stayed with the disciples.

⁵⁵ The time for the Passover Festival was near, and many people went up from the country to Jerusalem to perform the ritual of purification before the festival. ⁵⁶ They were looking for Jesus, and as they gathered in the Temple, they asked one another, “What do you think? Surely he will not come to the festival, will he?” ⁵⁷ The chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where Jesus was, he must report it, so that they could arrest him.

In this passage, from how the events are framed, we could conclude that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead a few weeks before the annual Passover celebration.

It is also interesting, that the religious leaders give orders that anyone with knowledge of where Jesus was must report it so they could arrest Jesus. This detail is interesting because during the week of the Passover celebration, Jesus speaks openly in the temple at least twice, and leading up to this, Jesus openly rides a donkey into Jerusalem. These events are prime events to arrest Jesus, but an arrest does not happen.

However, the most fascinating piece of this entire response to Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is what the high priest prophesies about Jesus. Caiaphas, the high priest that year, told the religious leaders in verse 50: “Don’t you realize that it is better for you to have one man die for the people, instead of having the whole nation destroyed?”

Even though John follows this quotation up with the powerful idea that this was a prophecy, in this statement itself, we have so much depth that it is hard to grasp it all.

On the surface, Caiaphas’ statement is relevant, because in their minds, Jesus’ presence and ministry was significant enough to threaten Rome, and Rome did not like to be threatened. However, it is also worth noting that any time Jesus drew a crowd of followers larger than a certain size, He began to challenge this crowd with difficult to accept spiritual truth prompting the crowd to leave and many in the crowd to doubt. This is recorded in the gospels on at least two occasions, though I suspect there were more. We don’t have to look very far in Jesus’ ministry to realize overthrowing Rome was not anywhere on His agenda.

However, while Caiaphas said these words as a defense against the threat of Rome, and primarily for self-preservation, these words have a much deeper meaning, also foreshadowing Jesus’ ultimate mission in this world.

In an ironic twist, the highest spiritual authority in the Jewish faith, who also happened to be Jesus’ most high-profile opponent, is led by God to give the most powerful prophecy describing Jesus’ mission and purpose for coming to this world.

Even though I’m sure Caiaphas did not fully grasp the full significance of His statement, God used Caiaphas, who was openly against Jesus, to give a true prophecy about what Jesus came to accomplish.

At that point in history, the set of prophecies that the religious leaders focused on were the ones where the Messiah overthrows Rome, and where the Messiah ultimately lasts forever. There were prophecies that describe a Messiah who suffers, is betrayed, and who is killed as a sacrificial lamb, but these prophecies were discounted, minimized, or outright ignored.

The last thing on these religious leaders’ minds was that Jesus was the Messiah God would send. Jesus didn’t fit their picture for the messiah, even if it was clear that Jesus was actively stepping into the role of Messiah.

Earlier this year, we saw that these religious leaders rejected Jesus because He was raised and from Nazareth. This was true, but it was a false assumption that Jesus was born in Nazareth. It is easy for us to see this in the scriptures, but perhaps more challenging for those in the first century who only knew of people being born and raised in one location. If it had not been for the census, Jesus’ wouldn’t have been born in Bethlehem, and I suspect if it had not been for Herod’s threat, Mary and Joseph may have raised Jesus in Bethlehem, being familiar with the prophecies about the Messiah.

In the first century, the religious leaders used plenty of reasons to reject Jesus as the Messiah. But even with their choice to reject Jesus, God used Jesus’ opponents in a powerful way to fulfill His prophecies about the Messiah. Topping this list is Caiaphas’ prophecy about Jesus’ mission into this world to die, and John’s side-note describes Jesus’ mission perfectly in verses 51 and 52. Caiaphas prophesied that “Jesus was going to die for the Jewish people, and not only for them, but also to bring together into one body all the scattered people of God.”

Jesus came to this earth to redeem not just one race, one religion, or one ideology. Jesus came to redeem and unite all of God’s people that were scattered throughout the world. Jesus’ mission is bigger than we could ever imagine, and I suspect that God’s people are more diverse than we could ever imagine either. Jesus came to unite and redeem God’s people, and that means for us living today that when we ally ourselves with Jesus, we join with the body that will be saved when Jesus returns! Allying with Jesus leads to eternal life.

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, seek God first in your life and choose to place your faith, your hope, your trust, and your belief in Jesus, allying yourself with His plan, His mission, and His purpose for your life.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to purposely grow closer to God each and every day. While God can use people for His purposes regardless of whether they have allied themselves for or against Jesus, only when we grow towards Jesus will we be saved for eternity, and the best place for us to find Jesus is within the pages of the Bible, and specifically in the pages of the gospel record. Through the gospels, we discover not only what Jesus is like, but what God is like as well.

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!