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(The following are reflections from the writer’s personal journey through The Bible Recap by Tara-Leigh Cobble – a Bible reading plan to read the Bible chronologically in one year. To learn more about The Bible Recap, visit thebiblerecap.com. Find more posts from this series at lifeword.org/thebiblerecap.)

Day 281: Read John Chapter 5

My Takeaways:

Today, Jesus doesn’t mince words. He puts the smack down on the religious officials. He pretty much says, “God is my father and everything I do comes from His authority. If you don’t honor me, you’re not honoring Him because He sent me. You read the Scriptures, but guess what? They are about me. John talked about me as well! Oh yeah, Moses wrote about me too. If you truly believed Moses, you would believe me too!”

These are fighting words! They knew Moses’ writings, but they don’t listen. They are so rooted to their man-made rules and traditions, Jesus’ words can’t penetrate their calloused hearts. He represents everything they aren’t. And it not only shocked them, but they also became murderous, wanting to kill Him.

The truth is sitting right in front of them, and they miss it. How many people come into our churches and do the same? They hear the truth preached, but they miss it because they can’t break free from former thoughts or be willing to look at their own hearts and want to change old habits/sin.

And, we have a man who has been sitting handicapped for 38 years by the pool of Bethesda. Every time the water is stirred, thought to be from an angel, he can’t make it to the water in time and misses out on a potential healing.

For 38 years.

And yet, he is the only one at the pool that Jesus goes to. He is the only one that Jesus asks one question to: Do you want to get well?

I wonder….did Jesus see beyond his physical state and saw that he was just desperate enough to believe Jesus for a miracle?

I love Jesus’ approach—He asks him a question: Do you want to get well?

I mean, I am sure he was like, “Um, DUH. I am here!” You see, I feel like Jesus always asks us questions he knows the answers to in order to make a point.

And instead of answering Jesus directly, our guy begins telling Him how he has tried but can’t.

Then, Jesus does something interesting. He wants this man to prove it: “Get up, pick up your mat, and walk.”

He calls him to walk by faith—not by sight.

This, friends, is a crossroads. This is right at the moment we decide to believe Jesus at His word or continue staying in our comfort zones, perhaps giving reasons why we can’t, why it’s too hard, or why it’s beyond our means.

And our guy decides, after 38 years of struggle, to believe Jesus. How do we know?

He obeys Jesus. He gets up and walked! Can you imagine his absolute JOY? Can’t you see him doing the happy dance everywhere he went?!

Friends, we may not be handicapped in our legs, but we can be “handicapped” in other areas of our lives. We can live our lives in the same state for years, giving reasons why we can’t/won’t/don’t do something, but I feel Jesus is calling us to do this:

“Believe me. Lift up your shield of faith and live like you believe my words.“

Sometimes, He’s just looking for a heart that is willing to do just that. The type of heart that is wiling to step outside of the comfort zone and do something it hasn’t done…in a long time: face the impossible in confident faith.

The type of heart that doesn’t have to see it/feel it/taste it in order to do it.

The type of faith that says: I trust you.

Day 282: Read Matthew Chapter 12, Mark Chapter 3, & Luke Chapter 6

My Takeaways:

Jesus is stirring things up now! It strikes me so much how He confronts hypocrisy and legalism so much more than I realized! He is there to convict the hearts on their behavior and turn them back to God. But, these hearts of religious people don’t accept it—they watch miracle and after miracle and plot His murder after every healing He performs.

It’s possible to see miracles and not believe, you guys.

Jesus represents the poor of spirit, the humble, the hungry, the broken-hearted, the outcasts. He finds the hurting and those who need healing. He shows them love and compassion. He calls them to love their enemies, to not judge (oh, the shock to our religious experts!), and preached how our words reveal our hearts. He calls His disciples, and those who follow Him His family, and calls us all to build our houses upon the rock, that firm foundation, that won’t collapse in harsh weather. He fed His disciples heads of grain on the Sabbath (oh, the horror for religious experts!) as well as healed a man with a shriveled hand.

And He desires mercy, not sacrifice.

Yes, Jesus was everything they weren’t…and His days are limited.

You guys, I am struck by Jesus. This was FAR from the easy life, far from comfort, far from what they were expecting in a Messiah. And yet, He loves people and desires for them to turn to Him as Savior.

I cant imagine how hard that was for Jesus in the flesh. And yet, He does it for every single one of us!

Day 283: Read Matthew Chapters 5-7

My Takeaways:

Matthew, the former tax collector, documents Jesus’ sermon on the mount very precisely, friends! And I bet it was a shocker to many!

He talks about all the attitudes and postures that are blessed in Christ through The Beautitudes, and then after that, He gives loving examples of them.

• Don’t hate—that’s murder in your heart.
• Don’t look lustfully at another person—that is adultery.
• Let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no”—be a person of integrity and your own word.
• Don’t repay evil deeds—instead, repay evil with GOOD. Abandon the “eye for an eye” way of life.
• Love your enemies! Love the hard to love people!
• Don’t be showy with your acts of righteousness. Do them in private—God will see and reward you!
• Fast in private. God will see and will reward you!
• Don’t value earthly things. Let your treasure be on heavenly things instead.
• Don’t give way to worry—instead, trust God and trust that He will take care of you!
• Don’t judge, for you will be judged the same. (YIKES!)
• Don’t give up! Keeping asking God, keep seeking Him! Lean into Him as you present your needs!
• Don’t go with the flow—go against it. Many are headed in the wrong direction. Don’t follow them. You will know them by their words—good trees have good fruit. Bad trees have bad fruit. Not everyone who professes they are believers are actually believers. Be discerning by others words and actions!
• Put your faith and hope into Jesus, the firm foundation, and you won’t ever regret it. You will be the wise man who built his house on the rock—no matter what storms comes your way, it will stand firm.

You guys, these are revolutionary ideas for believers! For the Jews, they lived and died by their rules and now, they are called to live by their love for God in their words and actions!

It was authenticity! It was daring! It was being the light! It was living out The Beatitudes!

And it rocked people down to their sandals! Can you imagine how different Jesus’ ideas were to the “live and die by the rules” people?!

I bet people never forgot this sermon! It started something…something that would continue to build momentum and a shift in living life. A revolution.

And it still challenges us today.

These attitudes go against our flesh and thinking, but when we are daring to live out our love for God in the way we live life, friends, that gets attention. That draws others’ eyes. That shows our love for our Father in Heaven.

It’s the law of love, that was given all the way back in Deuteronomy: Love the Lord with all your heart, mind, and strength.

Love forgives. Love overlooks. Love honors. Love stands by its word. Love goes the second mile. Love seeks. Love gives.

Day 284: Read Matthew Chapter 9 & Luke Chapter 7

My Takeaways:

In today’s reading, first you have a woman who has been bleeding for 12 years—12 years! She has been “unclean” and as a result, an outcast. She tried all the doctors who took all her money. She was desperate…and then, she hears about a man named Jesus. This woman risked it all by going to Jesus amid a crowd with her uncleanliness, and yet, she thought, “If I can just touch His robe, I will be made well.”

And then you have our “sinful” woman who seeks Jesus at a dinner party. She brought a pricey gift of perfume and began to anoint His feet with this perfume, adding her own tears, as she cleans His feet with her hair. She kissed His feet. She knew who she was. She knew her sins. And yet, she came to Jesus with a broken and repentant heart.

Both women were rejected by others, both women were unclean in different ways, and yet both women had faith that Jesus was the answer. And in both cases, their faith in Jesus saved them.

Both women sought Jesus. Both women were willing to risk it all seeking Him. Both women walked away forgiven and loved.

When we realize that we have nothing to give to Jesus but our hearts and our repentance, beautiful things happen. Oh yes, Jesus has a soft spot for desperate people. Unlike the Pharisees, they know their sinful states. They know they need help. And they know what we know: He’s truly where the joy is.

Day 285: Read Matthew Chapter 11

My Takeaways:

Something struck me in today’s reading.

John the Baptist was in prison. It wasn’t unusual for him, but perhaps it had been some time. Perhaps by now, he had been released from prison in other times? Perhaps he kept hearing about all the miracles Jesus had been doing? Perhaps he wondered why Jesus wasn’t getting him out of prison? Perhaps he wondered if this was all a part of God’s plan? Perhaps his current situation made him start questioning things?

I say these things because he did something we all do when things don’t fall into place….he questioned Jesus: “Are you the one?”

I wonder if these were other questions he didn’t ask:

“Are you who you say you are?”

“Is this part of your plan?”

“Are you going to save me?”

Even our John the Baptist was human. Even though it’s one question, it makes me think: don’t we all start to question God when things get tough and prayers aren’t answered the way we want them to be?

Doubt creeps in and things don’t look like they should in our minds.

And here’s the part that gets me: it’s not going to end well for John. Some people’s stories just don’t end like Esther’s or Daniel’s or Sharach, Meshach, or Abednego’s. Sometimes, they end hard.

That challenges me so much! Honestly, I can’t focus on it either—it messes with me! I love good endings! I love when the good guy is saved! The thing is this: some people’s lives end hard…and yet, they finish strong. They ran their race well despite how it ended.

Not only does Jesus reassure him, but He takes a stand again about John and his purpose to the crowd, calling him the Elijah who is to come. (This was HUGE to Jews!) He calls them out again for their treatment of prophets and of Him. He calls out cities that saw His miracles and STILL DIDN’T BELIEVE!

Funny, we say many times, “If I see it, I will believe it!” Not really. This shows us that many people saw and still didn’t believe.

Jesus praises the “infants” who receive Him and His message. And He promises them something beautiful: rest and help in life.

“Take up my yoke and learn for me because I am lowly and humble and heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

For an oppressed generation, this was EVERYTHING.

Day 286: Read Luke Chapter 11

My Takeaways:

Shameless boldness.

This is my Bible’s wording for the man who was knocking on his friends’s door repeatedly so that his friend would answer it.

In this analogy, Jesus challenges us to do the same with Him! He wants us to turn to Him with our needs and to not give up. He wants us to have that same shameless boldness to our requests. He wants us to seek Him above all.

He may not answer our requests as we desire but it’s the process of seeking that relationship can be grown and strengthened so that we trust Him. He is a good Father and wants to take care of His kids! What parents doesn’t want to bless their child?!

So, keep asking. Keep knocking. Grow your grit and don’t give up! That shameless boldness may be what God is after!

You know what else God is after? Authenticity.

Jesus calls out the Pharisees today too. Jesus doesn’t mince words or hold back. He tells them they like to look good on the outside but they are unclean on the inside. They are dead men walking. They don’t practice what they preach.

And you know what got my attention?

The Ninevites will condemn them on the day of judgement. The Queen of Sheba will condemn them too. For they listened to Jonah and Solomon about God!

That evil generation of the Ninevites turned to God! That had to sting to the Pharisees! And yet, those stony hearts don’t turn to God in repentance. Instead, they plot Jesus’ death.

My God Shot is this: Ask God for the big and for the small! Believe big of Him! Just imagine what we may miss out on for not asking! Approach Him with shameless boldness and you never know! Just like a parent loves to bless his/her kids, He loves to bless us.

Because if we are really serious about our requests, we will do something He commanded us to do in the Old Testament: SEEK HIM with ALL our hearts.

Because when we seek Him, we will find Him.

Day 287: Read Matthew Chapter 13 & Luke Chapter 8

My Takeaways:

We had lots of meaty moments in our reading today! Jesus is in the heart of His ministry using parables to teach people about believers and unbelievers, about receiving the good news, and about that place of “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

People who don’t receive the good news can’t understand what He is saying and those who follow Him still don’t get it. But, He teaches them and promises believers will get it.

What I loved about our reading was two stories in particular (you know me—ever the story gal!).

In one very short reading, we had the disciples in a boat with Jesus. Jesus falls asleep, a windstorm blows up, and before long, the disciples fear they will sink amid this storm. They wake Jesus up in complete fear…here they are with the Son of God and they fear they will die! (Conviction: how many of us do the same?!)

Jesus, ever the cool, calm, and collected one, rebuked the storm…and then asks them an important question:

Where is your faith?

You guys, these disciples have been doing life with Jesus—they KNOW He can do miracles, they have seen it! And yet, at this point, they struggle with their faith amid the storm.

This is a WORD, friends! Jesus had a ministry to all the people who came to see Him, but you know what His greatest ministry might have been?

To these 12 disciples.

Because it’s these men who would light the world on fire for the Gospel upon Jesus’ death.

Sometimes, Jesus allows the storms of life to happen so that we will lift up our shields of faith and live it out. Until then, it’s fearful faith. It’s “Save me, Jesus!” vs. “If you are willing, I know you can.”

He’s ever the teacher trying to grow His students’ roots of faith. You know what? He does the same for us too.

And you guys, one of the last stories GETS ME! He goes to the “other side” of the Sea of Galilee, the side of Gentiles where they have pigs. There’s one man on His radar: the demon-possessed man. Or, as my former preacher once said: a nude dude with a rude attitude. (I don’t know about you, but being demon possessed would me in a rude mood too!)

This guy—who screeches and screams, who breaks chains, who scares everyone around—submits to Jesus Christ. Jesus casts the demons out of him and the most beautiful thing happens: he is sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind.

Friends, Jesus restores his mind and clothes His child. I love this. And that’s not it. This man begs to be a follower of Jesus. And Jesus does something interesting: he tells him to go back to his home and tell others what God did for him.

And he did. He went off proclaiming the Good News with his testimony.

Something makes me think that Jesus came only for this man, set him free, and sent him off with a compelling testimony to all the Gentiles who lived there.

Oh friends, He does the same for us too. How many of us have been saved by Him, restored in some way, given “clothes” of dignity, and sent off with a testimony?!

That’s what love does. That’s our Jesus and our God. That “nude dude with a rude attitude” became a child of God with a life-changing story.

He’s where the calmness is, He’s where the restoration is, and He’s where the joy is.

Copyright © 2022 by Amber Spencer @ Lioness Legacy Facebook Group No part of this article may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from Lifeword.org