Reflective Bible Study

As we continue moving through Matthew’s gospel, we come to another miracle Jesus did that led into Jesus teaching and challenging those present. From one simple miracle, we find a powerful teaching that forces us over 2,000 years later to make a choice.

Let’s read what happened and discover what we can learn from this event. Our passage is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 12, and we will read it from the Contemporary English Version. Starting in verse 22, Matthew tells us that:

²² Some people brought to Jesus a man who was blind and could not talk because he had a demon in him. Jesus healed the man, and then he was able to talk and see. ²³ The crowds were so amazed that they asked, “Could Jesus be the Son of David?”

²⁴ When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “He forces out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons!”

²⁵ Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he said to them:

Any kingdom where people fight each other will end up ruined. And a town or family that fights will soon destroy itself. ²⁶ So if Satan fights against himself, how can his kingdom last? ²⁷ If I use the power of Beelzebul to force out demons, whose power do your own followers use to force them out? Your followers are the ones who will judge you. ²⁸ But when I force out demons by the power of God’s Spirit, it proves that God’s kingdom has already come to you. ²⁹ How can anyone break into a strong man’s house and steal his things, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can take everything.

³⁰ If you are not on my side, you are against me. If you don’t gather in the harvest with me, you scatter it. ^31-32 I tell you that any sinful thing you do or say can be forgiven. Even if you speak against the Son of Man, you can be forgiven. But if you speak against the Holy Spirit, you can never be forgiven, either in this life or in the life to come.

³³ A good tree produces only good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. You can tell what a tree is like by the fruit it produces. ³⁴ You are a bunch of evil snakes, so how can you say anything good? Your words show what is in your hearts. ³⁵ Good people bring good things out of their hearts, but evil people bring evil things out of their hearts. ³⁶ I promise you that on the day of judgment, everyone will have to account for every careless word they have spoken. ³⁷ On that day they will be told that they are either innocent or guilty because of the things they have said.

In this passage, we find what is often referred to as the unpardonable sin, and we find a challenge for us that we will have to account for every careless word we have spoken. Unlike other passages where people are judged based on their actions, this passage challenges us with the truth that we are also judged innocent or guilty because of our words.

This passage is challenging on a number of levels and in a number of ways, but that shouldn’t stop us from digging in and seeing what we can learn.

At the start of this passage, when Jesus casts the demon out and heals the man, the people wonder out loud if Jesus could be the “Son of David”. This reference is clearly Messianic because the Jews believed at that time that the Messiah would be a descendant of David.

However, the Pharisees heard what they were saying and were quick to challenge this idea. They show their prejudice by not looking at what Jesus was doing, but by attributing Jesus’ good works to Satan.

This is where I am amazed at Jesus’ response. First, Jesus challenges the logic of the Pharisees. If Satan has somehow decided to fight himself, then he is his own worst enemy and his kingdom won’t last. Also, Jesus wasn’t the only one in the first century casting demons out of people. There were even Pharisees in other parts of the country who healed people in this way. Jesus challenges the logic of the Pharisees that some people used God’s power, but other people used Satan’s power. This doesn’t make much sense when brought to light.

Then Jesus gets even more challenging. Jesus polarizes the conversation by saying that either you are on His side, gathering in the harvest with Him, or you are against Him and scattering the harvest. There is no middle ground.

However, Jesus then promises forgiveness, but He does so in an interesting way. He tells those present in verses 31 and 32 that “any sinful thing you do or say can be forgiven. Even if you speak against the Son of Man, you can be forgiven. But if you speak against the Holy Spirit, you can never be forgiven, either in this life or in the life to come.”

We can be forgiven if we decide to come to Christ after being against Him. However, if we ally ourselves against the Holy Spirit, we will never be forgiven according to Jesus’ teaching. This is what is often known as the unpardonable sin. I’ve heard many different ideas regarding this verse over the years, but the biggest challenge I see included here relates to where we choose to place our focus.

For many of God’s people who are paying attention to the world’s events, we can see glimpses of how God is moving in the world today in order to bring everything towards a conclusion. This moving of God is another way of saying that we see evidence of His Holy Spirit moving in the world around us. When we see spiritual things happening and are openly skeptical about it, our skepticism pushes God away. If we continually push God further and further away, we have alienated our only hope of salvation.

Another way to say this is that by pushing the Holy Spirit out of our lives, we are also pushing away the only Source that can lead us to forgiveness and repentance. Speaking against the Holy Spirit pushes Him away and by pushing the Holy Spirit away, we reject God and His offer of Salvation. Salvation is found through believing in Jesus and placing our faith, hope, trust, and belief in Him. This can only be done when we ally ourselves with the Holy Spirit and let Him lead our lives and our focus. Without the Holy Spirit, we are lost in our sin and destined to pay the penalty for our rejection of God.

Jesus finishes off by challenging us to pay attention to the actions, words, and attitudes of those in the world around us. Someone who is good is going to produce positive things, while someone who is bad is going to produce negative things. “Good people bring good things out of their hearts, but evil people bring evil things out of their hearts.” (v. 35)

While life appears to be a lot more complicated than Jesus tells us in this passage, this truth is intuitively understood. When Jesus returns and the world is judged, our only hope is Jesus. While this passage doesn’t share how God can change people’s hearts, their minds, or their attitudes, when we let the Holy Spirit into our lives, we let God transform us into the people He created us to be. With the Holy Spirit in our lives, we will have placed our faith, hope, belief, and trust in Jesus.

If you are worried or concerned about having committed the unpardonable sin, let me put your mind at ease by saying that your worry or concern is the Holy Spirit trying to draw you into a relationship with God. Someone who commits the unpardonable sin is unlikely to ever care about committing it.

However, it is also worth noting that Jesus did not share this message to people who were on the fence about believing in Him or not. Jesus spoke this challenge to a group of Pharisees who were already prejudiced in their opposition of Jesus, and who were trying to tell others that the Holy Spirit’s power that Jesus used to heal and help others was really the power of Satan. If you haven’t told others that Jesus came from Satan and used Satan’s power to heal people, then you shouldn’t be concerned about breaking this unpardonable sin.

Instead, let right now be an opportunity to return to God if you are on the fence, ask Him for forgiveness for your past sins, and choose intentionally to step into a new life with 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 place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus. If you are concerned about having sinned, take time right now to ask God for forgiveness. If God has been challenging you about a part of your life that He doesn’t like, choose to repent and to turn away from whatever that thing is. God wants the best for you, and sin is never a blessing.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. Through prayer and study, discover what God wants to teach you from His Word and grow your personal relationship with God closer and stronger with every minute spent together.

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

As we continue moving through Luke’s gospel, we come to a point where we are introduced to two very different individuals, and from the way Luke’s gospel describes this event, I am fascinated by some of the details we see when looking closely at what happened.

First off, this event focuses on two different women, and nothing in this passage is hinted at these two women being married. One of these women is described as having a home, which strongly implies that she was old enough to have an established life, and this is without Luke’s gospel sharing any evidence of a husband.

While it is possible she had a husband who traveled a great deal and who wasn’t present for this event, it is also just as possible that she was divorced or simply had chosen not to marry. There may be other possible explanations, but all the explanations we can think of are really distractions from the big contrast Luke wants us to see as he describes what happened when Jesus meets these two women.

Our passage is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 10, and we will read it from the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 38, Luke tells us that:

³⁸ As they were traveling along, Jesus went into a village. A woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. ³⁹ She had a sister named Mary. Mary sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to him talk.

⁴⁰ But Martha was upset about all the work she had to do. So she asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work all by myself? Tell her to help me.”

⁴¹ The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha! You worry and fuss about a lot of things. ⁴² There’s only one thing you need. Mary has made the right choice, and that one thing will not be taken away from her.”

In just five short verses, we are introduced to two very different women, and two very different responses to interacting with Jesus.

It is easy to condemn Martha for worrying and fussing while focusing on the details of being a good hostess. It is also easy for us to sympathize with Martha’s irritation over Mary’s lack of help or Mary’s decision to sit listening to Jesus. However, the biggest theme of this passage can get lost in the details if we are not careful.

It is worth noting that Jesus does not condemn Martha for serving or being a detail-driven hostess. While Jesus does call Martha out for where she has placed her focus, this only happens after Martha had become upset about what Mary was doing when compared with what Martha wanted Mary to be doing. In other words, Martha’s expectation for Mary was upsetting her when Mary wasn’t doing what she expected her to do.

This detail is huge, because it points us to a number of big spiritual truths.

First, we can see that our expectations for ourselves have an impact on our spiritual lives. In Martha’s case, the expectation she had placed on herself was that of being the perfect hostess. She wanted every detail accounted for because she knew how special Jesus was and what a big deal it was that He decided to spend time in her home.

Continuing in Martha’s example, we discover that when we don’t meet our expectations for ourselves, we often try to get others to help us meet our expectations. When Martha began falling behind with the details, she tried to get Mary to come and help her catch back up. While the details Martha was fussing and worrying about might have been very temporary things, the way she frames her frustration and request appeared to be more demanding than the situation might have warranted. I don’t believe Martha was in the wrong for asking for help, but she ultimately was called out for the way she demanded help from her sister.

This leads us to another truth: when others choose not to help us achieve our own expectations for ourselves, we can become bitter and angry towards them when they technically have done nothing wrong except for failing to abide by our expectations for them. In Martha’s example, Mary had done nothing wrong except that she chose not to help Martha achieve her expectations for herself. If Mary had gotten up to help Martha, then at the end of Jesus’ stay with them, Martha may have had the feeling of satisfaction, but Mary would definitely have had the feeling of regret and a missed opportunity.

Ultimately, what Jesus tells Martha is a message to all of us. While we may worry or fuss about a lot of things, it is more important that we connect with Jesus personally, and that we don’t try to dictate how other people connect with God. Every person will connect with God in their own way, and for a relationship with God to be truly personal, it must not depend on or include other individuals standing between us and God.

In Martha’s case, her expectation for herself stood between her and her relationship with Jesus, and when she was falling behind achieving her expectation, she expected Mary to help her rather than letting Mary focus on her own connection with Jesus. Jesus pushed back Martha’s upset remarks because Jesus knows that Mary’s simple choice to sit and listen is infinitely more valuable to her connection with Jesus than all the serving and hosting she could do!

In our own lives, we should intentionally spend time sitting and listening to Jesus to stay connected with Him. While serving Him is always a good thing in the big picture, we must never lose our connection with God while being focused on serving Him. In our lives each day, let’s take time to be with Jesus while we also spend time serving 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. Choose to take time to spend with Him and simply be with Him. We can serve God in our lives, but if we serve God to the point of becoming disconnected from Him, we will ultimately lose the life He has called us to be a part of. We can become disconnected from God even while doing great things for Him, and the longer we are disconnected from God, the farther we can drift from Him.

This is one reason why I regularly challenge you to pray and study the Bible for yourself. Through prayer and Bible study, we can keep our connection with God strong, and when we prayerfully open the Bible to study, we are opening our minds to God’s leading and listening for what the Holy Spirit wants to teach us in God’s word. Prayer and Bible study are two of the best ways of staying connected 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 abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we continue moving through Matthew’s gospel, we come to a set of events where Jesus challenges the religious leaders while defending those who followed Him and those who needed healing. In the context of Jesus’ ministry, the religious leaders disagreed with Jesus the most on one, single point: which was the Sabbath. As we will see while reading our passage, the religious leaders’ biggest issue over Jesus and His followers actions related to what they did and did not do on the day of worship.

Let’s read what happened and discover what we can learn about what Jesus believed from this set of events. Our passage is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 12, and we will read it from the New Century Version. Starting in verse 1, Matthew tells us that:

¹ At that time Jesus was walking through some fields of grain on a Sabbath day. His followers were hungry, so they began to pick the grain and eat it. ² When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Jesus, “Look! Your followers are doing what is unlawful to do on the Sabbath day.”

³ Jesus answered, “Have you not read what David did when he and the people with him were hungry? ⁴ He went into God’s house, and he and those with him ate the holy bread, which was lawful only for priests to eat. ⁵ And have you not read in the law of Moses that on every Sabbath day the priests in the Temple break this law about the Sabbath day? But the priests are not wrong for doing that. ⁶ I tell you that there is something here that is greater than the Temple. ⁷ The Scripture says, ‘I want kindness more than I want animal sacrifices.’ You don’t really know what those words mean. If you understood them, you would not judge those who have done nothing wrong.

⁸ “So the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath day.”

⁹ Jesus left there and went into their synagogue, ¹⁰ where there was a man with a crippled hand. They were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they asked him, “Is it right to heal on the Sabbath day?”

¹¹ Jesus answered, “If any of you has a sheep, and it falls into a ditch on the Sabbath day, you will help it out of the ditch. ¹² Surely a human being is more important than a sheep. So it is lawful to do good things on the Sabbath day.”

¹³ Then Jesus said to the man with the crippled hand, “Hold out your hand.” The man held out his hand, and it became well again, like the other hand. ¹⁴ But the Pharisees left and made plans to kill Jesus.

Let’s pause reading here to draw our attention onto two big things we can learn from these two events. In the first event, Jesus defends His disciples’ actions by contrasting what they did with even worse actions from the great king David in Israel’s history. And, Jesus contrasts His disciples’ actions against what the priests and religious leaders who serve in the temple did every Sabbath. In both scenarios, what the disciples did is easily excusable because God had excused much more significant things.

In a single phrase, Jesus challenges the legalism of the Pharisees by quoting the Old Testament to them that God is more interested in kindness than in receiving animal sacrifices. In the culture leading up to that time period, a greater and greater focus was being placed on obeying the details of the law that the big themes of the law that focused on being kind and loving towards others were being pushed aside.

Also, it is interesting to note that what the disciples did was step over a self-imposed barrier that the Pharisees had set up to protect the people from coming close to breaking the actual law. What the disciples did is easily understood to not fall under the category of work, but in the legalistic minds of the Pharisees, they had placed the definition of work so low that almost nothing would be allowed. While there were many reasons they chose to do this, the religious leaders lost the love of the law when they focused so heavily on the letter of the law.

It’s interesting that when we move into the second event, it is as though these Pharisees set the trap for Jesus regarding work. When they ask Jesus if it was right to heal on the Sabbath, they viewed Jesus as simply an above-average doctor and healing would be His “job”.

However, Jesus answers their challenge by raising the value of humanity and by telling them that helping a fellow human is just as permissible on the Sabbath as helping one’s own animal. Jesus challenges them on their understanding of the Sabbath by saying, “it is lawful to do good things on the Sabbath day”.

For the religious leaders, the Sabbath was a day of avoiding work and avoiding anything that could even remotely resemble work. The Sabbath had descended into a list of activities to avoid. The Sabbath was not a blessing away from work; it had become a curse and a burden regarding avoiding work or work-like activities.

It is interesting to note that Jesus does not answer any challenge regarding the significance of the Sabbath day. Jesus did not ignore the intent of the Sabbath, or the reason this day of rest and worship was given. Instead, Jesus honored the Sabbath day the way God wanted His people to honor it. Jesus wanted the Sabbath to be filled with worshiping God and helping others. The Sabbath was intended to be a reminder that God supplies our needs while also giving us the rest we need to be more productive during the rest of our week. Jesus did not come to replace the Sabbath; He came to restore it.

However, the Pharisees were stuck in their legalism and hostility towards anyone who challenged their picture of God’s demands for the Sabbath, and this leads them to begin plotting Jesus’ death.

After this event, it is interesting in my mind to read a quotation Matthew includes from the prophet Isaiah. Continuing in verse 15, we learn that:

¹⁵ Jesus knew what the Pharisees were doing, so he left that place. Many people followed him, and he healed all who were sick. ¹⁶ But Jesus warned the people not to tell who he was. ¹⁷ He did these things to bring about what Isaiah the prophet had said:

¹⁸ “Here is my servant whom I have chosen.
    I love him, and I am pleased with him.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
    and he will tell of my justice to all people.
¹⁹ He will not argue or cry out;
    no one will hear his voice in the streets.
²⁰ He will not break a crushed blade of grass
    or put out even a weak flame
until he makes justice win the victory.
²¹ In him will the non-Jewish people find hope.”

The very last phrase of Isaiah’s prophecy is amazing in my mind. In Jesus, all the non-Jewish people find hope! This means that Jesus is the Messiah for the world, not just for a certain race or nationality. Jesus came for everyone, and He longs to save anyone and everyone from the curse of sin.

Jesus’ death on the cross opens the way for you and me to experience forgiveness for our sins and the hope of an eternal life with God. Even in the Old Testament we discover Jesus’ mission was to everyone regardless of race, nationality, or any other dividing line. Jesus came for everyone!

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, be sure to intentionally seek God first each and every day of your life and to place your focus on Him. Choose to place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus and live your life as a thank You to Jesus.

Also, be sure to do good on the Sabbath like Jesus showed us. While we might not do miracles or heal people on God’s day of rest and worship, we can be helpful, kind, and loving to others. This is God’s ideal for His special day!

If you have any doubts about what Jesus felt about the Sabbath, take your concerns to God in prayer and Bible study. Pray and study the Bible for yourself to discover the truth about this truth for yourself. Listen to a variety of different opinions on the Sabbath and test these different views with what the Bible teaches. Like many other beliefs, there is a wide range of views on the Sabbath, and we can best learn through listening to many people and filtering everything they say through what the Bible teaches. Don’t hesitate to ask others about the Bible’s teaching on this subject, but be sure to take what they say and filter it through what you see written 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 our journey through Jesus’ life as told through Luke’s gospel, we come to an event that includes one of Jesus’ most famous illustrations. However, if this event didn’t include a follow-up question to the one Jesus answered, Jesus may never have shared the amazing example of what it means to be a neighbor that we will soon read.

While it seems strange to think, this entire discussion hinges around a very legalistic view of the law.

Let’s read our passage for this episode and discover what we can learn from this event. Our passage is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 10, and we will read it from the Contemporary English Version. Starting in verse 25, Luke tells us that:

²⁵ An expert in the Law of Moses stood up and asked Jesus a question to see what he would say. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to have eternal life?”

²⁶ Jesus answered, “What is written in the Scriptures? How do you understand them?”

²⁷ The man replied, “The Scriptures say, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.’ They also say, ‘Love your neighbors as much as you love yourself.’”

²⁸ Jesus said, “You have given the right answer. If you do this, you will have eternal life.”

²⁹ But the man wanted to show that he knew what he was talking about. So he asked Jesus, “Who are my neighbors?”

Pausing here before reading Jesus’ response, it is worth drawing our attention to the detail that this whole discussion is centered around a legalistic angle of observing the law. This expert in Moses’ law knew exactly the right answers, and he correctly summarized the essence of the Old Testament law as loving God wholeheartedly and loving our neighbors.

It is worth drawing attention onto Jesus’ first response, where He says the expert gave the right answer. Jesus tells Him and us that if we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind; and we love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves, we will have eternal life.

However, because this expert wanted to push his own agenda, perhaps even trying to trap Jesus sharing an idea that was contrary to God’s character in the Old Testament, he asked a follow-up question wanting Jesus’ definition of neighbor. From the way Jews treated those who were not Jews in that culture, it was very clear that the Jews viewed the concept of neighbor as being exclusive to nationality, and perhaps even more exclusive than that.

In response to the question asking for a definition of a neighbor, instead of sharing a simple response, Jesus shares a story to illustrate this truth. Continuing in verse 30:

³⁰ Jesus replied:

As a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, robbers attacked him and grabbed everything he had. They beat him up and ran off, leaving him half dead.

Pausing briefly again, it is worth pointing out that we have no context for who this man is. The man who was attacked could have been Jewish or not, he could have been wealthy or not, and this might have been a premeditated attack on a specific person or an example of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I believe this ambiguity is intentional because if we knew anything more about this individual, we might begin to rationalize the responses others have to seeing him that Jesus is about ready to share. For the purposes of the rest of the parable, feel free to imagine this man was exactly like the people who pass by, exactly opposite, or that each person who passed by could not tell whether this man was like them or not. It is actually an interesting exercise thinking about this parable from all three angles.

With this unknown man lying half-dead on the side of the road, Jesus continues His story in verse 31 saying:

³¹ A priest happened to be going down the same road. But when he saw the man, he walked by on the other side. ³² Later a temple helper came to the same place. But when he saw the man who had been beaten up, he also went by on the other side.

³³ A man from Samaria then came traveling along that road. When he saw the man, he felt sorry for him ³⁴ and went over to him. He treated his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put him on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. ³⁵ The next morning he gave the innkeeper two silver coins and said, “Please take care of the man. If you spend more than this on him, I will pay you when I return.”

³⁶ Then Jesus asked, “Which one of these three people was a real neighbor to the man who was beaten up by robbers?”

³⁷ The teacher answered, “The one who showed pity.”

Jesus said, “Go and do the same!”

In this illustration Jesus shares, three distinctly different people pass by this half-dead man. The first two people we would consider high social status individuals. Both the priest and the temple helper had strict rules and regulations on their lives making them fit verses unfit to serve in the temple. From the context of this story, we don’t know if these men were traveling to Jerusalem to serve in the temple, or if they had finished their service and were returning home. If we decide to legalistically look at the details in this event, then knowing the direction these men were traveling matters.

The brilliant way Jesus shares this illustration, and the context that Jesus shares, tells us a huge truth: Love God with all our hearts, minds, lives, and everything we are, and when we see someone in need, we should help them in whatever way we can – regardless of what others think or how it impacts our serving God. If the priest and temple helper were traveling to Jerusalem to serve in the temple, they likely wouldn’t have been able to begin right away if they stopped to help this man and they might have had to do a cleansing ceremony to become “clean” again to serve. Helping this almost dead man would have challenged their serving God.

However, the truth Jesus shares in this place as well as in other places is that when we help others, we are really helping God. I believe in this illustration and others, God is more than willing to forgive our sins when we happen to technically sin while helping someone else. God is more interested in us modeling His character of love than He is in us legalistically following His rules without love in our hearts.

The Samaritan man, the one described by the religious expert as the one who showed pity, demonstrated what it means to be a neighbor. The Samaritan helped because he could, he helped because there was a clear need, and he helped because that is what he would want someone to do for him if the roles were reversed. This Samaritan didn’t ask or think about what reasons he should not help. He simply saw an opportunity to help and then took advantage of this opportunity!

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 model His love towards others when you see a need in your life. When deciding the best way to help when help is needed, don’t worry about if you are crossing the line into sin because the line you are really aiming for is the line of serving and service. Helping someone in need is more important than legalistically following the rules!

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself. Don’t accept an idea or thought simply because a pastor, speaker, author, podcaster, or anyone says it – including me. Instead, take the ideas you hear, see, and read and test them against the truth you discover in God’s Word the Bible to determine if they have any validity. The Bible is the best guide we have to determining God’s truth; it is the only guide that teaches how to ultimately gain eternal life through Jesus and His sacrifice.

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 talk yourself out of where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!