Nature's Calling: A Walk With God 664ud

Nature’s Calling a Walk with God Michael Knapp

ISBN 978-1-63814-126-6 (Paperback) ISBN 978-1-63814-127-3 (Digital) Copyright © 2021 Michael Knapp All rights reserved First Edition All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below. Covenant Books, Inc. 11661 Hwy 707 Murrells Inlet, SC 29576 www.covenantbooks.com

I often wonder why the human heart is so drawn to nature. What causes that feeling of being at home in the mountains or the sense of belonging while hiking in the forest? What makes someone yearn to take that weekend trip to the lake or plan all year for the one week they spend on the beach just watching the ocean? Besides nature, the one thing all of these have in common is the desire for the human soul to find peace. Nature, by God’s glorious design, has the innate ability to calm a weary soul and bring peace to a troubled heart. When the chaos of this world and the turmoil of daily living become overwhelming, it is the call of nature that drives us to seek healing. But what is it about nature that provides the healing power to the heart and soul? Certainly, there is the physical beauty that nature provides. The majestic mountain peaks rising above the ethereal forests or the mighty ocean waves crashing against the sandy white beaches paint a picture in the mind of sheer awesomeness and wonder. But beauty is only the outward part of the equation. Humans are both physical and spiritual beings, so while the physical beauty of nature can affect our physical well-being, what is it about nature that calms our soul? The answer can be found in the biblical beginning with the of God’s creation of nature and his formation of man. Before we delve into creation, let’s first talk about God. For most of us, the concept of God is not something foreign. As a matter of fact, on the one hand, the belief in God is oftentimes casually accepted by the majority of people. True faith in God’s existence and his creation, on the other hand, is not. Even for those of us who claim to have faith, there are questions we ask that seem to undermine our proclamation of faith. The very first question often asked is gleaned from the first sentence in the Bible. More specifically, the first four words in the Bible. Who would have thought four simple words could raise so many questions and doubts between believers and nonbelievers alike? Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God…” It seems simple enough, except for that nagging question that everyone seems to ask. Where did God come from? It seems without that bit of information, nonbelievers have the perfect excuse for not believing, and believers have that shred of doubt that tests the very faith of who they believe in. Over the years I have heard many answers to that very question ranging from “You should never question the Bible” to “Just accept it by faith” and even “Does it really matter?” As an analytic thinker with a “prove to me with science” mentality, accepting something by faith was difficult for me in my early years as a believer. I wanted more. I wanted proof. To simply believe because someone or

some book says so seemed too easy and too childlike. It wasn’t until much later in my walk with God that I truly understood the importance of having childlike faith as it related to my relationship with God. So early in my walk with God, I struggled with the concept of wanting to have faith and believe what the Bible says is true about God and the nagging question of “Where did God come from?” By allowing that simple question to fester in my mind, it created a shred of doubt as to what I even believed. I began to doubt the existence of God. Then one day, in typical God fashion, a simple message from a sermon brought to light not only the truth I had been searching for, but also the proof of God’s existence in a rather unconventional way. The pastor began by telling a story of a man walking through the woods. As the man reached the edge of the woods, he saw a flower-filled meadow. In the center of the meadow was a tree stump, and as the man approached the stump, he observed on the stump a magnificently crafted pocket watch. The solid-gold casing glistened as the sun reflected off its surface. Intricate carvings covering the case could only have been made by a master craftsman. The precious jewels used for the inner workings allowed for the smoothest operation imaginable. Twelve diamonds located on the watch face sparkled brilliantly, creating a heavenly glow. The man could not believe his luck in finding such a priceless, perfectly made watch in such a strange and remote place. How did it get here? the man thought. The pastor went on to ask these questions. Would it have been easier for the man to believe the elements comprising this watch just happened to randomly come together at this location and in such perfect order that they created this magnificent watch, or that a master craftsman designed, created, and left the watch on the stump to be found? Such a simple story with such a profound meaning! To doubt the existence of a divine, intelligent creator would confirm someone believes the complexities existing in nature and in the creation of human beings are mere products of the random compilations of elements forming everything in existence. Having a common-sense approach to life in general, this philosophy has none in my opinion. The pieces simply do not fit. It would take more faith to believe that a random collection of elements could create something as complex as a human being than it would to simply believe in a divine, intelligent creator. This was a turning point in my walk with God and my faith in knowing God is real and his creation is perfect. Mankind, or let me get even more personal, I am too perfectly made and nature is too perfectly made to be some random conglomeration of elements left up to sheer happenstance of chance. I find it extremely difficult understanding how a

nonbeliever can accept the perfectness and complexity of creation as something that just happened by chance. This brings us full circle back to the question that made me not only doubt my personal beliefs, but also question if God even existed. Where did God come from? By finally understanding and truly believing that God was real, the question of where he came from just didn’t matter. The truth is God does exist. The proof of it is everywhere and in everything around us. We simply need to open our eyes and allow God’s glorious creation to inspire us and call our hearts to the plan he has for each and every one of us. With the knowledge that God does exist, it is easy to accept the of creation and even easier to have a real relationship with someone I have no doubt is real. In the beginning God…created the heavens and the earth. For those of you who believe in the big bang theory, it is okay because so do I. The big bang was simply God’s voice speaking into existence everything out of nothing. The word of God tells us that the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of the Lord hovered over the waters. The Bible goes on to demonstrate God’s power and authority when it gives the of creation. Each stage of creation is prefaced by the words, God said. The ability to simply speak things into existence is, well, undefinable. There are no words in any language to explain it. An example of such power would seem to make any ordinary person afraid; however, when you truly know God and have a relationship with him, there is no fear. There is a reverence, there is a respect, and there is a peace that es all understanding. And most of all, there is an unconditional love that comes from God the Father to his creation. You cannot buy it. You cannot earn it. You cannot even justify it. God’s unconditional love is given freely by him with our acknowledgement of the love he first gave to us at creation and then completed when he gave his one and only son, Jesus Christ, as the ultimate sacrifice for our disobedience and sin. The story of creation explains just how intertwined mankind and nature are. I truly believe God in his infinite wisdom and divine knowledge interlaced mankind and nature for a specific purpose. I also believe you too will see and understand the purpose as we go on this incredible journey together. It is impossible to get the full scope of the interconnectivity of mankind and nature unless you know the story of creation. For those of you who know the story, please bear with me (you may learn something new), and for those of you who do not, sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.

Genesis 1 verses 3–5 describe the creation of light and darkness. God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. He saw that the light was good. It is amazing to me that from the very beginning of creation God references the light to being good. The verses go on to say he separated the light from the darkness and called the light day and the darkness night. He makes no mention of the darkness being good. There are many, many references in the Bible between good and evil being compared to light and dark. I do not believe it a coincidence that God did not call darkness good when he created it. We will get in to that a bit deeper later in our adventure through creation. There was evening and there was morning—the first day. Genesis 1 verses 6–8 describe God’s creation of the sky. God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.” God made the expanse, separating the water under the expanse and the water over the expanse, calling it sky. Before you start to scratch your head and say “huh?” let me explain. The expanse, or sky, is the atmosphere that separates the waters on the earth and the water above the earth or, in other words, the clouds. There was evening and there was morning—the second day. If you think it has been exciting so far, just wait; it gets better, I promise. Genesis 1 verses 9–13 explain the manner in which God began to sculpt the topography of the earth with the waterways and the land masses. The Bible goes on to describe the formation of botanical life. God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear, and it was so.” I just love that statement. And it was so… My goose bumps get goose bumps when I imagine God simply speaking something into existence, and it was so. The scripture continues and says God called the dry ground land, and the gathered waters he called seas. And God saw that it was good. Let’s stop for a second. Did you get that? And God saw that it was good. Once again, God is telling us that his creation was good! Verse 11 goes on to say, “then God said, ‘Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.’” And you guessed it, it was so. And again, God saw that his creation of these plants and trees was good. God’s description of his creation of nature is that it is good. Is there any wonder then why we as human beings are so drawn to nature? We are naturally drawn to those things in our lives that are good. At least those of us with common sense are. Have you noticed God did not say that his seas were beautiful or his mountains were majestic or even that his trees were magnificent? No, he simply said they were good. An interesting statement that I believe has much deeper

meaning then the obvious physical attributes of God’s creation of nature. After all, we all know—believer and nonbeliever alike—how beautiful the seas are and how majestic the mountains are rising above the horizon and how magnificent a forest of trees can be. So what about nature being good has such a powerful tug on the human heart? Let us continue our journey and see where we end up. It was evening and it was morning—the third day. Genesis 1 verses 14–19 talk about the formation of the sun, moon, and stars. God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars in the heavens. God set them in the expanse to give light to the world and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. What I find totally fascinating is that much credit is given to ancient civilizations for discovering how to keep track of the sun, moon, and stars for celestial events, but if you read the of the creation of the sun, moon, and stars the way I read it, I believe someone else should be given the credit. God himself stated (let’s just say well before these civilizations existed), “Let them serve as signs to mark sacred times and days and years.” I believe God himself not only discovered, but also created a way for mankind to keep track of celestial events and track the days and years. Once again God describes his creation of light as being good. I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I do know that if God mentions light being good on two separate occasions, maybe I should look a little deeper. I do not believe any of us has to pretend and say we were not afraid of the dark when we were younger. Maybe some of us are still afraid of the dark even though we are older. Why is that, do you suppose? Is it the fear of the unknown because we fear what we cannot see? I think for some of us it is ingrained in our beings to fear the unknown, but for others the fear of darkness is much, much deeper. I do not believe it is a coincidence that God compares light to good and dark to evil. When sin entered the world through mankind’s disobedience to God, it brought with it darkness incomparable to that of simply being void of light. The darkness sin brought was a darkness of the heart. We as human beings can still carry that darkness in our hearts and feel the fear it brings with it. Sometimes this fear can be crippling and destroy lives altogether. But there is hope. Just as God created the light to separate day and night, he created the light of the world to separate us from the darkness of sin in

our hearts. By God allowing his son to be sacrificed for our sin, he created a remedy for the darkness of the sin we have in our hearts: a bridge over the chasm that separates a holy God and a sinful human heart. By believing that Jesus Christ died for our sins and accepting him as our savior, we are free from the darkness of sin in our hearts and we have nothing to fear. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty, there is freedom, and there is peace. The light of the world exposes the darkness of sin and drives it from its dwelling place. Yikes, I am so far ahead of myself, but I had to get that out. Hold those last comments for a while, and they will come full circle. And there was evening and there was morning—the fourth day. The first four days of creation were nothing short of miraculous; after all, speaking things into existence is not something that happens every day. The chronology of God’s creation speaks volumes to his perfect will and plan. God knew the order in which creation must be made in order for all things to exist in unity one with the other. First, he created the heavens and the earth, placing everything in perfect harmony. Next was the creation of day and night, light and darkness. This is the ideal cycle for living beings that God would create to live, work, and rest. Third was the creation of plants and trees from which God would provide nourishment for the life he would soon create. And finally, on the fourth day God set the sun and the moon in place. The location of the moon to the earth and the earth to the sun allows for a perfect symbiotic relationship for ing life. The warmth of the sun so precisely positioned to earth is essential to life. Any closer and everything burns up, and any farther everything freezes. The moon and its gravitational pull stabilize the earth’s orbit around the sun and helps regulate the ocean’s tides. Without the moon the earth would wobble on its axis, creating massive environmental changes throughout the earth. Can you honestly believe that all of this perfection just happened by chance? The first four days of creation were all preparations for what was about to come, God’s creation of living things. Genesis 1 verses 20–23, depict God’s of his creation of living creatures in the water and the birds of the air. God said, “Let the waters teem with living creatures and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems according to their kinds and every winged bird according to their kind. God saw that it was good. God thought so highly of his creation of the living creatures of the water and the birds of the air the Bible tells us in verse 22 he blessed them. Not only did he bless them, the verse goes on to say that he

communicated with them as well. He told the creatures of the water and the birds of the air to be fruitful and increase in numbers. Evolutionists believe that life began in the water. Their theory basically states that a one-celled organism spontaneously formed and gradually evolved into the land animals and ultimately human beings. About the only thing they have correct in their theory is the order in which life was created, as you will see as we continue our journey. We see in Genesis 1 verses 20–23 that life did begin in the water because that is the order in which God chose to create it; however, it was not a one-celled organism but living creatures. It never ceases to amaze me how the Bible continues to prove science. Why do people continue to doubt the word of God when it continues to prove science over and over again, yet the Bible has not or will not ever be disproved by science? There was evening and there was morning—the fifth day. Genesis 1 verses 24–31, God’s culmination of his creation documents the creation of the animals that dwell on the earth and, ultimately, his creation of mankind. God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground and wild animals.” And it was so. God made the wild animals, the livestock, and all creatures that move along the ground each according to their kinds, and God saw that it was good. I have read this age of scripture dozens of times over the years and yet did not fully see the importance it plays in understanding the deep connection God purposely made in all his living beings. God said, “Let the land produce living creatures…” When you take that statement literally, you have to ask yourself, how can living flesh come from the land? The answer is simpler than one might think even if you discard the fact that a God who can create everything out of nothing could easily create life out of dirt. When God created the heavens and the earth, he also created all the 118 elements known to exist. All matter, that which has breath and that which does not, is made at the molecular level using some combination of these elements. These elements are bound together with such perfection, creating all that exists on earth and in the heavens. So in essence, life is made of dirt, and dirt is made of life. Before you think this is some sort of metaphysical New Age mumbo jumbo, let me assure you it is not. It is divine creation at its very core. Only a divine creator could take a mere 118 elements and design a way to so intricately combine them to create everything that is. the pocket watch on the tree stump? Compare that to the even greater astronomical impossibility that the elements could randomly come together in such perfect harmony to create the complexities of life itself. Can you honestly convince yourself that life and everything you see in nature just

happened by the random conglomeration of elements in such perfect order? I cannot. There is one and only one logical explanation: a divine creator, God. We have journeyed through God’s incredible creation plan, only to find ourselves at God’s last and—some would say—most glorious creation, mankind. I would like to interject a personal thought to the most glorious creation statement by saying that I would agree we are God’s most glorious creation; however, we are also God’s most difficult creation. The word difficult does not describe how hard it was for God to create mankind, but more so how mankind has made it difficult on God. Anyone who has had a disobedient child knows exactly what I am speaking about. To imagine a god that loves his creation so much, that he would allow his one-and-only son to be sacrificed, only to have his creation, specifically mankind, turn their backs on him and not even acknowledge his existence is simply heartbreaking. Anyway, I will explain that in much greater detail later, but first, let’s delve in to God’s creation of mankind. Genesis 1 verses 26–31 gives us an overview of the creation of mankind. These verses also present the hierarchy and responsibilities God commanded of all his creations. Verse 26 tells us that God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over the creatures that move along the ground.” Verse 27 goes on to say, “So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” In verse 28, God blesses mankind and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds in the sky and every living creature that moves on the ground.” Of all God’s creations, mankind was chosen by God to have dominion over all. The creator of the universe, and all that is in it, gave mankind the responsibility to rule over, take care of, and to oversee all that he had created and all that he described as being good. I have to laugh. Think about that for a second. I can just hear God saying, “Hey, mankind, I made it, now you take care of it.” If that was not truly a test of mankind’s resolve, I am not sure what else to call it. And of course, whenever mankind is put in charge of anything, we typically tend to fail miserably. And yes, we did, which we will get into in just a bit, but for now, let’s continue. God being God and having an unconditional love for us, gave mankind assistance in their new found responsibilities. Verse 29 tells us that God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. God did not

set mankind up for failure. He did from the beginning as he has continued to do to this very day—provide for and love those which he has created. Like I said earlier, it is not God who fails us, but us who continually fail God. I promise we will get to that, but we have a little more of our journey to go first. God completes his hierarchy of creation in verse 30, which says, “And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. I do not believe it to be a far-out statement to say I believe God loves his creation. Not just mankind, but all of his creation. From the vastness of the universe to the minuteness of the flea, God loves his creation. God himself verifies this in the final verse of Genesis chapter 1. Verse 31 states that God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. All that he had made was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. Six days. Six days for God to create all that is known, and I am sure even more that is not known to be in existence. It seems so very incomprehensible to a simple mind like mine. Yet I believe that God wants us to understand the complexities of creation with a simple mind, so we can undeniably understand how much he truly loves us. Only with undeniable understanding can we honestly commune with God. Do not get me wrong; undeniable understanding is not ignorance, nor is it blind acceptance. God created mankind with a free will to choose that which we believe and that which we love. In understanding how much God loves us through his creation and his divine plan from the beginning, we can choose to love him or not. Like it or not, everyone will make a choice. To help in understanding, let us continue on our walk with God. This next topic may be somewhat controversial, even though the biblical text s what I am going to say. Well, it will only be controversial in a legalistic realm for those who see God as some disembodied entity of power just floating around being all-knowing and all-powerful, yet too disassociated from his creation of mankind to understand them. I want to talk a minute about the personhood of God. Here it comes; I can hear it as I write it. “God is not a person… How dare you put God on the same level as mankind?” Okay, valid point, but if you will hold on to your holier-than-thou self for a minute, I will explain. And by the way, I am not bringing God down to the level of mankind. God already brought himself down to the level of mankind when he sent his son Jesus Christ to earth, as a man, to become the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. I personally believe God sent Jesus to earth for a secondary reason as well. I understand that God is all-knowing, but I believe

God was trying to understand why, we as mankind, would continue to be disobedient and continue to sin even though he had provided us with everything we needed, including unconditional love, and yet that was not enough for mankind. I apologize for the digression from the topic, but it just irritates me to no end when I think about the attitude of mankind and our obsession with wanting more and more and never being satisfied. Let’s get back to topic and the personhood of God. The second chapter of Genesis starts with verse 1 telling us, “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.” Verse 2 of Genesis chapter 2 provides an insight to the personhood of God that is quite shocking. Verse 2 states, “By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so, on the seventh day He rested from all his work.” What? The God of the universe, the God of all power and infinite wisdom and knowledge rested? It’s inconceivable (to borrow a line from my favorite movie). No, it is another insight to the understanding of who God is. To the best of my knowledge, someone rests when someone is tired. I would imagine that after creating the entire universe and all that is contained within it, someone, God, would be tired. For crying out loud, I rest after mowing the grass on a riding mower. Genesis chapter 2 verse 3 brings the story of creation to completion. Chapter 3 states, “Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” In less than two pages of biblical text, we have seen and learned a tremendous amount about God’s character and personhood. As we continue on our journey together, our walk with God, my prayer is that an undeniable understanding of who God is will develop, and from that understanding a love and from that love communion with God the creator. After all, that is why we were created… Oooops, not there yet, but hang on, getting close. The entire first chapter of Genesis and the first three verses of chapter 2 are basically a summary of creation from start to finish. Genesis chapter 2, starting from verse 7 until the end of chapter 2, provides a very personal and detailed of the creation of the first man and woman. I believe God wanted us from the beginning to not only see the love he had for us, but to also understand the reason behind the chasm that was created between man and the holy God. We will get to that in the third chapter of Genesis, but for now let’s learn how God created life in the form of man/woman. The Bible says in Genesis 2 verse 7, “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” Please take a minute and read that verse a few times. Read it out loud and contemplate it for a

minute before we move on. This scripture is very clear that the Lord God formed a man, from the dust of the ground. Before we go any further, for all you naysayers, let me start by saying I agree. At face value, that sounds like something out of a fairy tale. God making man out of dirt? How in the world are we supposed to believe that? The answer can be found in a place where even a naysayer can find solace, a place called science. when I said that all matter, that with breath and that without, is made of a specific combination and number of the known 118 elements at the molecular level? With that in mind, I wonder what elements make up the human body? Almost 99 percent of the mass of the human body is made of six elements. These elements are oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. Five additional elements comprise another .85 (eighty-five onehundredths) percent of the body’s mass. These elements are potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium. All eleven of these elements are essential for life. There are also trace amounts of several other elements in the body, but these eleven comprise the majority and are necessary for life. So what does all this mean? Interesting facts for the next trivia night? Before tuning me out completely, just for kicks, let’s take a look at the elemental makeup of soil or dust as the Bible states in Genesis 2 verse 7 and compare what we already know about the human body. Does soil have oxygen? Yes. Carbon? Yes. Hydrogen? Yes. Nitrogen? Yes. Calcium? Yes. Phosphorus? Yes. Potassium? Yes. Sulfur? Yes. Sodium? Yes. Chlorine? Yes. Magnesium? Yes. Soil also contains many other trace elements also found in the human body, but most importantly, all eleven essential for life. Wait a minute. Are you trying to tell me that the human body has the same elements as dirt? No, I am not trying to tell you, I am telling you. The human body contains the exact same elements that are found in dirt. Obviously, a different molecular structure but the exact same building blocks called elements. So yes, Virginia, God could and did make a man from the dirt. Once again, it never ceases to amaze me at how science continues to prove the Bible correct, no matter how hard scientist and naysayers try to prove it wrong. With yet another undeniable understanding under our belts, there is one more nagging question about the creation of man that needs to be discussed. Up to this point God had created the physical shell of the man from the dust of the earth. The second half of Genesis 2 verse 7 confirms that what God had created was not just a six-foot pile of dirt, but an actual biological human man with nostrils and

all of the other important parts. Although the physical body of man was created, he had no life in him. It wasn’t until God breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils that the man became a living being. So the obvious elephant in the room is what exactly is the breath of life? The simplest and most logical answer is that the breath of life is God imparting his spirit into the physical body of the man he created, making the man a living being. Man, or should I say mankind, are not just biological entities created to wonder the earth with no purpose. Mankind is both flesh and spirit living together in perfect harmony. A symbiotic relationship with one foot on earth and an inner spirit yearning for a communion with God. Like it or not, everyone and I do mean everyone is searching for something. Something that comes from within their inner being is crying out to be filled with peace and love. No matter who, no matter where, the human condition we all share is to have the missing part of us filled. Yes, folks, here is yet another undeniable understanding God is imparting to us. Every human being has a spirit, and every spirit yearns to commune with God. Oh, we as highly intelligent, self-indulged human beings make every attempt to understand and fill that yearning with things from materialistic goods, to mindaltering substance abuses, to psychiatric therapies, but very few of us truly understand the only treatment for what ails us is a spiritual connection with the holy God that created us. Time and time again a true believer expresses this communion as a peace beyond all understanding, even in the midst of lifealtering pain and suffering. Do you think a new car or a handful of pills can honestly give you that kind of peace? I have news for you. Until you allow the spirit that lives inside of you to commune with the God who created you, you will never find peace on this earth or what lies after. Do you think just maybe this could justify mankind’s unexplainable draw to nature? Well, that was intense. I hope you all are still with me because we have so much more of our journey to go. We covered the creation of man, so let’s see where God put him and why. Genesis 2 verse 8 tells us now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden, and there he put the man he had formed. Verse 9 goes on to tell us the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground— trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Why do you suppose God would make trees pleasing to the eye? What was his purpose? Couldn’t the God of the universe have made apples grow from withered-up

thornbushes? We have already learned that God created mankind in his image and imparted in us his spirit, so it isn’t too far of a reach to say God enjoys the beauty of nature and that characteristic has been ingrained in our DNA, in our very being. God made the beauty of nature not only for him to enjoy but for us to enjoy as well. Yes, God loved us so much that he sent his one and only son to die for us on a cross, but he also loves us so much that he gave us beauty in this world to enjoy. But why? Let me give you my opinion. Like you have a choice? I have been freely giving my opinion from the start. God knew from the moment Adam disobeyed, mankind would drift from him. Ooops, not there yet. Be patient, we will get there soon. Anyway, history has shown mankind’s rollercoaster relationship with God from that very moment. This is quite evident in the stories of the kings of Israel. Kings would follow God, and their lands would be blessed. And within a generation, the next king would turn away from God, and their lands would be cursed. Common sense would seem to tell you that following God and being blessed is good, and turning away from God and being cursed is bad, right? Apparently not so in the minds of mankind. I believe God puts beauty in nature to draw us back to him. To remind us that he created the beauty for his pleasure and for ours as well. Maybe, just maybe, we can thank him for what he created. And maybe, just maybe, we can take a minute out of our crazy schedules and commune with him. Fellowship and talk to him. Even worship him as the creator of all things, including us. All this from simply stopping and enjoying the beauty in the world he created. If I am not mistaken, I think we are looking at another undeniable understanding of the character of God. Before we go on, I want to stop a minute and recap a very important topic we have talked about. From the very beginning of our journey, we learned that all through God’s creation he described his creations as being good. What exactly does good mean? The definition of good can range widely from a deep meaning like something conforming to the moral order of the universe to a simpler meaning like handsome or attractive as in how something looks. Regardless, the word good brings a positive feeling either to your mind when you see something that looks good or to your inner being, your spirit, when something causes you to have a good feeling. I believe God used the word good to describe both the physical attributes of his creations as well as the spiritual attributes of his creations. I know that sounds a little out there, but think about it for a minute. How else can you describe what happens when you see something like a mountain range and wonder at its physical magnificent beauty while at the same time feeling a deep draw from your inner being to be connected to those same

mountains? A feeling of such strong peace that makes you feel safe and at home. The answer is so very simple. God imparted in us the physical ability to recognize goodness and the beauty it possesses, and he also imparted in each of us his spirit to be drawn to the goodness of his creations (nature). I apologize for the little diversion from our course, but I just wanted to make sure we understood the goodness in the word good. Verses 10–14 of the second chapter of Genesis describe the physical location of where God placed the garden of Eden. While I am more concerned about the creation of mankind for the purposes of our conversation, I do think it is important to understand that the physical location of the garden of Eden was a real place and actually still exists today. While not a garden today, the location still exists. We will not delve in to it, but your homework, if you choose to partake, is to research Genesis 2 verses 10–14 and try and find the location of the garden of Eden. Not now of course, we still have some conversating to do. Yes, spell check did catch that, and I am leaving it as is. Verse 15 tells us that God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Work? The devil you say. Yes, folks, work. God gave man the responsibility of work from the very beginning. Work is not an evil four-letter word created by some supersecret government organization designed to zap the joy and freedom out of life. Seriously, why can’t we all just sit around doing nothing and have all of our needs provided to us? Well, only one problem with that. The God of the universe did not create mankind for that purpose. God did, however, create the concept of work, and he created it pretty much right after he created mankind. The purpose of working is to provide for the things you need to survive as well as give you the sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. Verses 16 and 17 provide both a blessing for obedience and a curse for disobedience. We have not even completed two chapters of the Bible, and God is giving us a complete blueprint of how we can choose to have a blessed life or a cursed life. If the man had simply followed God’s plan from the beginning, we would all be living under God’s blessing instead of the possibility of living under his curse. If it had not been for that doggone free will… Oh, I did it again. I am always getting ahead of myself. First let’s talk about God’s blessing for obedience. , God put man in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it, and for being obedient to that task, the Bible says in verse 16, “The Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the

garden.’” I can hear you now saying, “Wait, that’s it? All that work for some dumb fruit on a tree? What kind of blessing is that?” Be patient, my young reader, the good stuff is coming. Verse 17 issues a warning, a premonition, and a curse all in one. No, don’t you dare. Do not stop reading. We all need to know the full story of what God’s original intentions were for our creation and what choices were made to alter God’s perfect plan for us. I think it best to restate verse 16 and add verse 17, since they are actually one thought in God’s mind. Verse 16: “And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden.’” Verse 17: “but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” We learn in verse 17 that God gives man a warning not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The next part of the verse states, “for when you eat of it.” Did you catch that? God says when you eat of it, not if you eat of it. Wow, God loves his creation so much that he not only gives the man a warning, but he also tells man, “You are going to disobey.” The big question here is why? Why would God allow his creation to disobey when he knew man was going to disobey before he actually disobeyed? That was a mouthful. I promise we will address that in just a bit, but yes, it is that cursed blessing of free will. Finally verse 17 reveals the curse of disobedience. “You will surely die.” The ultimate curse for being disobedient is death. I know, seems harsh, huh? Not if you actually understand God’s initial intentions for man and the blessing he offered. Let’s take another look at what God said in verses 16 and 17. “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” Do you what was planted in the middle of the garden? Go back with me to the second half of verse 9 in Genesis chapter 2. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Have the bells gone off yet? Oh, this is getting so good, but we have to wait to see how this plays out. For now, I want to talk a bit more about free will. There is so much here, and I truly want you to get it, so I am going to go through it slowly. God’s entire initial plan for his creation of mankind can be found in these two verses. In addition to making mankind both flesh and spirit, God gave mankind something more. God gave mankind free will. Free will is the ability to choose and to make decisions. God did not make mankind to be mindless beings that simply obey out of obligation. We were not created as robots whose hard

drives are programmed to respond “How high?” if God were to tell us to jump. God wanted to offer his creation, mankind, those things that are good out of his unconditional love for us and give us the choice to accept them or not. The only caveat is that we obey him and his will for us. Before you tune me out, please listen to me for a minute. I can hear your thoughts as I have heard many people’s words throughout the years. “We have to obey God in order to get God’s blessing, so doesn’t that eliminate any free will?” “If God is a loving God, why doesn’t he just bless us regardless?” And there are so many more. I hope you have gotten a glimpse of who God is and an understanding of his character through our journey together thus far. Let me remind you what we have learned about God in our short time together. God is love. God is holy. God is light. God is good, and the things he created are good. God has free will. All these things God imparted into his creation of mankind for we were formed in his image. God is not hate. God is not evil. God is not darkness. God’s creations were not made for any malicious intent, including mankind. As a matter of fact, God cannot allow any of these negative attributes to even exist in his presence. God’s holiness and pureness demands obedience because everything about him and his plan for your life is founded in love and goodness. I have never understood why mankind thinks that by being obedient to God, they give up who they are. As a matter of fact, being obedient to God is being obedient to yourself. By choosing what is right, what is holy, what is good, you are opening yourself up to the vastness of God’s blessings. It is your choice. Your free will that gives you these blessings. God’s will for your life is that you follow his example of goodness. You give up nothing by simply being obedient to his will but gain his blessing and all it entails. God loves you. Plain and simple. You have a choice to except that or not. So before we talk anymore about free will and the dreaded consequences of bad choices, let’s talk about what in my opinion is God’s greatest and most awesome creation, woman. Woman. Why in the world did God decide to create woman? And no, ladies, it is not because man was a screwup. He was, but as in any relationship, it takes two to tango. And like it or not, woman was just as much at fault as man for mankind’s ultimate disobedient act. That story is fast approaching, but for now, why did God create woman? The Bible tells us in Genesis chapter 2 verse 18: “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for man to be alone, I will make a helper suitable for him.’”

Here again we get a glimpse in to the personhood of God. Another undeniable understanding of his character. How did God know it was not good for man to be alone? What is alone? Alone acknowledges a sense of loneliness, and the only way God would know if man felt loneliness is if he himself felt loneliness. Here we go again. Knock it off. Do you think because God is God he cannot feel? Oh, it is easy to accept that God is love, and God loves us with an unconditional love, but is love not a feeling? Why is it then that God could not feel lonely? Why do you suppose God created man in the first place? We are not pets that lay by God’s feet and do tricks for treats. No, we are his most beloved creations, created in his image to fellowship and to commune with him. God knew man was lonely, and he chose to create a helper suitable for man because he loved him. Verse 19 reminds us that God had already created out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air, so he brought them to the man to see what he would name them. On a sidenote, notice that God did not bring the fish and all the living creatures in the seas to man, and I don’t believe it takes an Einstein to figure out why. I believe that God was searching for a helper for man from the creations he had already made. The rest of verse 19 says, and whatever man called each living creature, that was its name. Verse 20 has an interesting tidbit of information in it. Let’s see if anyone notices. Verse 20 reads, “So the man gave names to all of the livestock, the birds of the air, and all the beasts of the field.” But for Adam no suitable helper was found. Adam? Where did this name come from? Obviously, the man now has a name, Adam. While the Bible doesn’t specifically say who named Adam, it is pretty clear that the man named himself. He was naming all other living creatures, so it only makes sense that he named himself. This is not a major divine revelation, but I did think it to be interesting to say the least. Because God found no suitable helper for Adam among the creatures he created, he decided to make woman. The manner in which God created woman is much different than his creation of any other of his living beings. Man and beast alike were formed from the dust of the earth, but woman, God created much more intimately. Genesis 2 verse 21 and 22 give us the : “So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, He took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of the man and he brought her to the man.”

We learn two very important things from these two verses. First, God truly is the great physician and performed the very first recorded surgery, without anesthetic I might add. And more importantly, we learn that woman was not created from the dust of the earth but rather directly from man. A precursor, one might say, to the natural process God designed for a man and woman to conceive and have children. We will discuss that a bit later, but for now, let’s continue on. Verses 23 and 24 of Genesis chapter 2 gives us the reason why God chose to create woman from man and not from the dust of the earth. Verse 23: “The man said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man.” Verse 24: “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” Wow, so much to chew on here, but we can do it one bite at a time. First the obvious question: why did God choose to create woman in the manner that he did? You have to the reason why God created a woman before you can understand why. God was searching for a suitable helper for man. He wanted a creation that shared more than just a superficial, elemental connection with man. God wanted a creation that had a direct physical connection as well as an elemental connection with man. A physical connection so strong that nothing could pull them apart. What better way to create a suitable helper then to create a helper, a mate, directly from the flesh of the man? You have heard the old adage that opposites attract. God is not dumb. As a matter of fact, he knew from the beginning that if he created someone just like man to be man’s suitable helper, it would not last. Men and women are generally polar opposites when it comes to personality traits, yet God chose to make Adam’s suitable helper a woman. Why? Because God knew in his infinite wisdom that a man and a woman make the perfect complementary pair to form the perfect whole. Verse 24: “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” I want you to think about this for a minute or two. Really dwell on the reasoning behind God’s creation of the man and why he chose to create the woman as he did. It is truly so very beautiful and so very intimate. I know this is not a popular approach to relationships in today’s society, but I am not making this up. This is not my philosophy on what a relationship should look like. The plain old vanilla truth is that God created the institution of marriage from the creation of the very first two human beings on the planet. He created these human beings as male and female, man and woman, and specifically created them so the man will be united with his wife and they will be one flesh. A

perfect union created by a perfect God. So marriage as designed, one man and one woman, is not associated with a specific religion. It is not a Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, or any other religious creation. Marriage predates all religions for it was made in the beginning by the one true God. The second chapter of Genesis wraps up in verse 25. Verse 25 at its face seems to be, well, just a little weird. That is, of course, until we read chapter 3 and then we will see just how powerful and insightful verse 25 really is. Verse 25 says, “The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.” Hmmm, as we all scratch our heads, what in the world is God trying to say with that? Well, it is once again my personal opinion that God was saying that ignorance is bliss. I am not trying to be funny. Think about it for a second. God had given the man and woman all things that are good. I do not think we have to go back through the story of creation, so you will have to take my word for it if you forgot. All of God’s creations were given to man to watch over and take care of, and all of those creations were good, including the man and woman. The only thing God withheld from them was the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Without the knowledge of good and evil, all the man and the woman knew was the good the Lord God had shown and taught them. There was no shame for the man and woman being naked for there was no evil there. The man and woman had been united in one flesh by the sacred bond of marriage, which was created by the Lord God. Without the knowledge of evil, there is bliss, so in that sense ignorance is bliss. I know some of you are thinking, But if there is a tree of the knowledge of good and evil, surely evil must have existed? The answer to that question is absolutely. Evil did exist back then as it does today. What is evil? I am sure if I ask that question in a crowded room, I would probably get as many answers as people in the room. Let me tell you, evil is not something that is defined by the creation, but is only something the divine creator can define. God is holy, . He cannot tolerate those things that are evil and contrary to the goodness of his creation. Mankind cannot decide what is evil because we all have evil within us. We are weak in the flesh, and temptations drive us to satisfy our flesh even above the desires of our internal spirit and the commandments of our God. Evil, by God’s definition, is disobedience to his will and plan. , God’s will and plan for all mankind is the goodness he created. Whatever is righteous,

whatever is holy, and whatever is true and pure. Seeing what is truly good is very easy to do, but , God also calls us to love our neighbor as ourselves, love our enemies, and forgive those who sin against us. Yikes, got quite a bit more difficult huh? And let’s not forget the dreaded do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Ahhh, an arrow right in the heart. Seriously, is it that difficult to see the goodness of a holy God intertwined in every one of those edicts? Yes, they are all in the Bible and yes, we are all supposed to follow them. God’s goodness binds us together while mankind’s evil rips us apart. Humor me for a minute. Let’s take God and religion totally out of the picture for a minute. If mankind would simply follow the above examples on how to treat each other, we would truly live in paradise? Right? That is exactly how God designed his creation of mankind to live. But by allowing evil to tempt us and use our free will to fulfill the temptations, we separate ourselves from our holy God. God’s original design was to allow mankind to reap the benefits of his goodness in a world free from evil because mankind was originally ignorant of evil, and life was blissful. That is until evil incarnate came to the garden and free will destined us all to knowledge, pain, and death. The next portion of our journey is not going to be easy, but it is necessary to grasp the full understanding of God’s ultimate plan for mankind and how we got to where we are today. Before we walk through the third chapter of Genesis, we need to cover some background information so that you understand, in a greater depth, the true meaning of being disobedient to God’s will and the evil it unleashed on the world. Before we talk about the fall of man in Genesis chapter 3, let me introduce you to the mastermind behind evil and the reason it exists at all. Satan, the devil, Lucifer—all names I am sure most of you have heard. Even some of you cringed when you read them because they are known throughout history as the representation of evil. But why is that? Do you know the story behind Satan and how he even came in to existence? Before we go any further, I want you all to know that I am not going to spend a lot of time talking about Satan because quite honestly, he is not worthy of even the time I am going to spend talking about him. It is important to our story, though, for you to understand where he came from and his role in our story and our walk with God. One more housecleaning tidbit before we get much deeper. At some point in time during God’s creation, prior to the creation of man, God created heavenly beings he called angels. These heavenly beings were of the spiritual realm and dwelt in Heaven with God but were also able to travel

between Heaven and earth doing God’s bidding. While they lacked a physical body, God instilled in them the same free will he instilled in mankind. With that being said, did you know that Satan was not always evil? In fact, he was one of God’s most glorious angels. It is said that his very voice sounded of musical instruments, and his beauty was even lovelier. Kind of throws a wrench in the old stories of horns and a pitchfork, huh? Seriously, though, think about it. If an ugly, scary creature came to you and tried to convince you to do something, would you do it? Of course not. The Bible tells us that Satan masquerades as an angel of light. Satan knows exactly how to tempt us, and he knows the weaknesses of mankind. After all, he has been around since we were created. So here is Satan, one of God’s greatest angels, but there was only one problem. Satan was jealous of God and wanted more than anything to be God. His jealousy festered until his free will acted on the jealousy, resulting in a rebellion in Heaven. The Bible tells us that a war raged in Heaven, and one-third of the angels, along with Satan, were cast out of heaven to live on the earth. Revelation chapter 12 verse 9 tells us that the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil or Satan who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth and his angels with him. That ancient serpent. This is important to when we get into our journey through Genesis chapter 3, but for now let’s finish the background on Satan. While Satan may have been defeated in Heaven, his fight against God was not over. Satan realized that he was not strong enough and could not defeat God and his angels. His jealousy toward God had now turned to hatred, not only toward God but to all that is good, including mankind. Satan vowed to get even with God by turning his most beloved creation, mankind, against him. He knew that the way to do this was to coerce mankind to do the one and only thing that would separate mankind from God—sin. Satan knew that if he could cause mankind to be disobedient to God’s will for him, then a chasm would be created between God and mankind. We talked earlier about how God cannot tolerate disobedience to his will because God is the essence of goodness, and disobedience to goodness is evil. As Satan began to put his evil plan in to motion, God already had started writing the greatest story ever to be told. With that background information in our hip pockets, I believe it is time to

continue our journey together. Genesis chapter 3 verse 1 through 5 tells us of a conversation between the serpent (Satan) and the woman in the Garden of Eden. Verse 1 shows the serpent was craftier than any of the other wild animals the Lord God had made. Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden”? In typical Satan fashion, he will distort reality to conform to his purpose in an attempt to trap you. Confusion and manipulation are two of the favorite tricks of his trade. The woman responds to Satan in verse 2 and 3, stating, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” but God did say, “You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must even not touch it, or you will die.” Wait, just one second, you must not even touch it? I realize this is a very serious conversation between the woman and Satan, but it does bring up a very interesting example of the differences between men and women. The woman was not yet created by God when God told the man he must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or he would surely die. There was never any mention of not even touching it. So somewhere in the communication chain between what God told the man and what the man told the woman, a tidbit of information was added. Again, I know this is very, very serious, but just think about it for a second. The man and the woman were sitting around, and the man says, “God told me I could eat from any tree in the garden except from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because if I do, I will surely die. So don’t even touch it, or you will die.” Ladies don’t hate me for this, but it just sounds like the man already had your inquisitive minds figured out. Enough of that, let’s get back on track. Satan learned from the woman’s response exactly what God told the man and woman not to do so he could trick them in to being disobedient. Taking the information he learned from the woman, Satan responds in verses 4 and 5, beginning his well-thought-out scheme to cause the downfall of mankind. Satan very sarcastically replies, “You will not surely die, for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” In one sentence Satan calls God a liar and tempts the woman with the possibility of having the limitless knowledge of God. If you get nothing else from this, please understand that Satan will stop at nothing to turn you away from God’s will for you. Satan continues these tactics, along with many others, to this very day in an attempt to turn mankind away from God’s will. There are ways to defend yourself against the attacks of Satan,

but they require knowledge of him and his ways as well as knowledge of how to guard yourself against him. The ultimate preparation for a confrontation with Satan can be found in the book of Ephesians chapter 6 verses 10 through 18. Although this is a bit lengthy, it is too important not to write it out so you will be fully prepared for the battles that will come in your life. , not all battles are as they seem. Satan will use every tactic in his arsenal to defeat you from devastating diseases to subtle distractions to lead you away from God’s will. Yes, men, that includes the sly smile of a beautiful woman. And, ladies, it also includes the silk tongue of the handsome stranger. It does not matter to Satan how he makes you fall, as long as you fall and are separated from God’s will for you. To arm all, let’s read Ephesians 6:10–18 and prepare for battle. Verse 10: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” Verse 11: “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” Verse 12: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Verse 13: “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” Verse 14: “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place.” Verse 15: “and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” Verse 16: “In additional to all this, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” Verse 17: “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.” Verse 18: “And pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” This portion of scripture contains so much information, it could fill a book, and as a matter of fact it has. While I would love to dive headlong into it, we simply do not have the time and must get back to our journey, our walk with God. I will, however, touch on just a few very important key points. If you notice, every piece of the armor of God listed above is preparing you for a full frontal assault from the evil one and the forces of darkness. Nothing protects your back from Satan. You must always face him head-on in battle and never let your guard down and allow him to sneak up on you from behind. Also, if you notice, every piece of armor is associated with something in the spiritual realm. Even though our battles appear to be battles of the flesh, they have their roots in the spiritual

realm and have to be fought in such a manner. That is why verse 18 is the absolute most important verse of all. Prayer is the key. Prayer is the glue that holds the armor together and activates the power of the armor. The battle, my friend, is not yours, but it is the Lord’s. Yes, you have to prepare for battle, but you have to prepare in the spirit and understand that God will fight the battle for you if you are in his will. We will touch more on this later, but for now, let’s get back to the woman in the garden and see how she handles the deception of the evil one. So instead of simply standing on the truth God had told her about eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the woman contemplated what the serpent had told her. She let those thoughts fester in her mind until the thoughts turned to action. Do you see a common denominator here about how simple thoughts, if left to fester, can and do turn to disobedience, which is sin? And we know from our journey so far, disobedience and sin lead to separation from God. I know I am jumping ahead a bit, but this is the perfect place to interject a scripture that, if you keep with you always, can prevent you from falling for the evil devices of Satan. 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 5: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Do not allow wrong thoughts to fester in your mind, but capture those thoughts and make them obedient to Christ and then let it go.” Genesis chapter 3 verse 6 tells us what happens when we allow wrong thoughts to fester, even when we know the truth and that truth was told by God himself. Verse 6: “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” Wow, so this is it. The original fall of man from God’s grace. The woman chose to consciously disobey the Lord, even though she knew the truth and the consequences. But all of the blame cannot be placed on the woman. The Bible tells us that the man was with her. Why didn’t he stop her? He not only allowed her to disobey God, he willingly disobeyed as well. I know, I get it. It makes absolutely no sense for the only two people alive, who were in the very presence of God, to be given only one “Thou shalt not,” yet they shalt. Before we all jump on the ole “holier than thou” bandwagon and try and tell everyone that if God personally appeared before me and told me not to do something, then by God I would not do it. Really? Oh yes you would because we

all are weak minded, and we are easily tempted by the evil one. This truly would have been the end of all our stories if God did not love us so much and already had a plan to save our sorry souls. Before we go there, we will finish the story of the fall and learn of the repercussions of their decision to disobey God. Verse 7 of Genesis chapter 3 tells us, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realized they were naked so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” Knowledge. Knowledge, a blessing and now a curse. Mankind had knowledge, but it was knowledge of good and the goodness of God. Now, the knowledge of evil had been unleashed on mankind. The beginning of the end for mankind as God had originally planned it. We had failed, and now it was time to pay the price. Verse 8: “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” For those of you who thought me blasphemous for humanizing God earlier in our story, all I can say is did you catch that? God, the creator of all, walking? Yes, the Lord God chose to walk in the garden and enjoy that which he created. Verses 9–11 describe the initial encounter between God and man in reference to man’s disobedience. Verse 9: “But the Lord God called to the man. ‘Where are you?’” Verse 10: “He answered, I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” Verse 11: “And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?’” First of all, we all know that God knew where Adam was. God also knew that Adam had eaten from the forbidden tree and now possessed the knowledge of evil, thus knew he was naked. God merely wanted Adam to come forth and face the judgment he and his wife had earned by being disobedient. God wanted Adam to stand before him face-to-face to see how far the disobedience would go. Verses 12 and 13 reveal just how deep the evil had already penetrated the hearts of the man and woman. Verse 12: “The man said, ‘the woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it.’” You see, man could not even accept responsibility for his disobedience even in the very face of God. He blamed the woman. He blamed God. And he didn’t even fess up to being in the middle of the garden with the woman when she ate. He made it seem like she tricked him in some way. Verse 13: “Then the Lord God said to the woman, ‘what is this you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me and I ate.’” Once again, confronted

by God face-to-face, the woman could not take responsibility for her disobedience and blamed the serpent. It was not the serpent’s fault that she ate, and it was not the woman’s fault that man ate. It was free will and a conscious decision to disobey. God knew exactly what had happened and how it played out. I cannot help but think that God, in his infinite love for mankind, was trying to give them yet another chance to be honest and confess their sins to him, but they could not. Evil had burrowed itself deep inside the man and woman, and God had no choice but to ister judgment against mankind. But first, judgment against the serpent for his deception. Verse 14: “So the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animal! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.’” Verse 15: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and he will strike his heel.” I know, I know. Before you start yelling about this being some fairy tale with talking animals and such, just hear me out. when God created the animals, he blessed them and communicated with them. You have to get outside of your own limited sphere of knowledge and understand that God, the creator, can communicate with all of his creations. What you also have to understand is that Satan has the power and ability to manipulate and deceive God’s creations, including mankind, if they allow him to. This is why God so harshly rebuked and cursed the serpent for allowing Satan to use him to deceive the woman. God was also speaking directly to Satan when he told Satan he would put enmity between him and the woman and between her offspring and his. And the real kicker was when God told Satan that “He,” the woman’s offspring, would crush his head and he would strike “his” heel. You see, Satan believed that if he deceived mankind into being disobedient to God, then God would turn his back on his creation. Little did Satan know and even less did he understand the depth of the love God had for mankind. Satan learned quickly from God’s rebuke that he was not finished with mankind and that mankind would be an enemy of Satan for the rest of his existence. The “he” God was referring to was his very own son, and the new plan God designed included the destruction of Satan and the redemption of mankind’s sin wrapped up in one tiny little bundle, in a manger, in the tiny town of Bethlehem. Let me tell you something, this is getting good with a capital G. But first, mankind must pay a price for their disobedience. Please. And I do mean, please,

I hope you understand punishment was not the original will of God. I do not even think it was his second choice, but mankind’s use of free will and refusal to acknowledge guilt was simply too much for God to ignore. Punishment is not always a negative thing, but when done lovingly, it can and does invoke corrective action on the part of the perpetrator. With that being said, let us find out the punishment God istered to the man and woman for their disobedience. Genesis chapter 3 verse 16: “To the woman He said, I will make your pains in child bearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” Let’s first talk about God’s discipline to woman regarding childbirth by going back a bit and review how God made man and woman. Man he made from the dust of the earth, and woman he made from man. Even though woman was taken out of man, the Bible makes no mention of the man being in any kind of pain. The Lord God caused the man to fall in to a deep sleep, took a rib from the man, closed the place with flesh, and made the woman. No mention of any pain involved. I honestly do not know why God chose to cause pain in childbirth, but my guess would be a reminder of the consequences of disobedience to God. But God being the loving Father that he is offers blessings even through the pain. While I am not a woman, I have heard it said that labor pains are the best pain in the world because they produce the blessings we know as children. Maybe that is why God allows pain in childbirth, to show woman the pain she caused him when she sinned and was disobedient to his will, but also allows her to see the tremendous blessing when she confesses her sins and turns back to him and his will. I believe that the closest thing to understanding how much God truly loves us is to see how much we as parents truly love our children. Even when they cause us pain and heartache, we still love them with an unconditional love, even when we have to discipline them. The second part of the woman’s discipline is not quite so easily accepted, especially in today’s society. God tells the woman her desire will be for her husband, and he will rule over her. Wait, before you track me down and hang me from the highest tree, this is God’s judgment, not mine. But I believe after we talk a few minutes you will see that this judgment also comes with a blessing. Please believe me, ladies, I looked up the words rule over and tried my hardest to find a pleasant synonym for it, but as hard as I tried, I am afraid to rule over means to have authority over. Hang with me for a bit longer, and let’s work

through this. I believe God judged the woman this way because she was deceived by the serpent and was the first to be disobedient to God’s will. If you after God had created woman, Adam proclaimed, “This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.” And the Bible tells us this is why a man leaves his father and mother to be united to his wife and the two become one flesh. I firmly believe that God’s original design for man and woman was for them to be equals. One flesh. But because of the fall, someone had to be held able. Someone had to be in charge to make sure this would not happen again. God chose man for this role. I also firmly believe if man had been deceived first and disobeyed God first, then woman would have been tasked with the responsibility of being in charge. Regardless, God’s proclamation that man would rule over woman was not a free for oppression and abuse. Simply the very special way God created woman. Every other living being was created from the dust of the earth, but not woman. Woman was created from the flesh of man. I believe God holds woman in high esteem, and she truly has a special place in his heart. For this reason, God in his infinite wisdom and love for us gives us a road map that guides both man and woman as to how they are to treat each other as husband and wife. This road map can be found in the book of Ephesians chapter 5 verses 22–31. I realize this is a lengthy portion of scripture, but if we walk through it together, I think you will see the blessing God designed in the relationship of man and woman. Ephesians chapter 5, verse 22: “Wives, submit to your husband as to the Lord.” Verse 23: “For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.” Verse 24: “Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.” Woah, wait just a doggone minute. Right, ladies? I know, this sounds exactly like oppression and abuse. Be patient, it isn’t over until the final amen is said. No woman in her right mind would follow those edicts, unless of course, the rest of the story. Verse 25: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” Verse 26: “to make her holy, cleansing her by washing her with water through the word.” Verse 27: “and to present her to himself as a radiant church without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish but holy and blameless.” Before we go any further, I want to make sure you understand what this portion of scripture is saying. The Bible is telling us that the husband is to love his wife

as Christ loved his church and gave himself up for her. I know that some of you know the story of Jesus Christ, and some of you may not. We will walk through that story in completeness later, but for now it is important to understand that Jesus did more than simply die on a cross. He took upon himself the sin and disobedience of all of mankind, his church. He took upon his back the burdens of their souls, their heartache, and their pain as he was scourged and beaten. He carried these things with him as he carried his own cross to the hill of Golgotha to willingly lay down his life for his church. He was crucified and died for the love he had for his church, so they could one day be in his presence in Heaven spotless and blameless. Do you understand now how a verse that says, “husbands, love you wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” means more than a simple “I love you” now and again? Men, this one is for you. Are you loving your wife like this? If not, you better start because this is not a simple suggestion, but an edict straight from the word of God. If you want a happy home and blessings from God, try loving your wife like this and see how she responds. Ladies, as you know, men can be a bit dim-witted when it comes to understanding matters of the heart, so once again God in his infinite wisdom and, well, sense of humor gives us men some more scriptures to help us understand a little more on our level. Verse 28: “In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. Verse 29: “After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church.” Verse 30: “for we are of his body.” Verse 31: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother, and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” So the question of the day is, ladies, if a man loved you as Christ does the church, would it really be that hard to submit and respect him? I am thinking the answer would be no. Well, men, we have put it off long enough. I think it is time we dive headlong in to the discipline God brought forth against man for his sin and disobedience. Genesis chapter 3 verse 17 says, “To Adam he said, ‘Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, you must not eat of it. Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.’” Verse 18: “It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the fields.” Verse 19: “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were

taken; for dust you are and dust you will return.” Wow, push the pause button for a minute. Do you even realize what God is saying? Before we hear the final judgment reference the man’s disobedience, and yes it gets worse, let’s talk about these three verses. God is clear that the man is receiving his punishment because he listened to his wife and did what God told him not to do. I do not believe it was so much that the man listened to his wife, but more so that he did not stop her. If you , he was with the woman in the middle of the garden when she took the fruit, and he stood by and did nothing while she ate. He could have stopped her. He should have stopped her, thus preventing her from being disobedient to God’s will and, in turn, preventing himself from being disobedient. Adam had the chance to prevent the fall of mankind if only he would have stood up to his wife and simply said no, the Lord God commanded us not to eat. Because of man’s failure, God’s punishment was swift and severe. Verses 18 and 19 tell us how difficult it is going to be for Adam to even find enough food to eat to survive. If you , after God had created Adam, the Bible tells us God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden, and that was where he put the man he had created. In that garden God caused all sorts of trees to grow with fruit that was pleasing to the eye and good to eat. Did you notice, God did all that? The man did not have to lift a finger. His only responsibility was to watch over it and take care of it. The man could eat to his heart’s content from any tree, but the one God commanded him not to eat from. And now, because of his failure, man must toil in the fields to try and raise enough food to live on. By the sweat of his brow, he must work all the days of his life until he returns to the earth from which he came. Wait, does that mean what I think it means? Yes, it means exactly what it says. the one commandment God had referenced eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat of it, you will surely die. Physical death has now come to mankind through disobedience to God’s will. Before you get too depressed, have you not learned by now that even in God’s judgment, there is God’s love? I believe that God’s original plan was far, far different than the place in the road we find ourselves thus far in our journey together. Take a glimpse with me back to when God created the Garden of Eden. We have been talking so much about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but have you forgotten that there was another tree in the middle of the garden. The tree of life.

God never originally told man he could not eat from the tree of life. He only told man he could not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What exactly was the tree of life, and why would God feel like it was so important to name it as he did? After all, he didn’t mention the tree of apple or the tree of pear. Quite simply I believe the tree of life was what it was named to be. Here comes the big crescendo, so hang on. I do not believe God’s intention for his creation of mankind included death. I believe God offered the tree of life as a way for man to be immortal as he was. No, I am not some whacked-out, psycho conspiracy theorist. Please give me another minute and think about this. Does it make sense for an all-powerful, eternal entity to create something he meant to walk with and talk with and commune with only to allow it to die? That makes absolutely no sense to me. No, not for a second do I believe God’s original intention was for us to die; however, because of free will and a conscious choice to disobey God’s one-andonly command at the time, man forfeited the greatest blessing of all. Man gave up the chance to walk with God and commune with God for all eternity, all for a piece of fruit. Sounds like this is just the end to a bad story, huh? If you believe that, then you haven’t been listening to a thing I have said about a loving God and his unconditional love for his creation, mankind. God in his infinite love for us created another way. Not an easier way on his part. As a matter of fact, his desire to have his creation of mankind with him for all eternity pretty much cost him everything. Yet once again, all it costs us is simple obedience. But before we get there, we have a bit more to talk about concerning God’s judgment on the man and woman. Genesis chapter 3 verse 20 tells us Adam named his wife Eve because she would become the mother of all living. Even in judgment, God promised to bless Adam and Eve with children, making Eve the mother of all living. As I stated earlier, children are the closest way for mankind to begin to understand the love God has for us. Children would be a constant reminder of that love from generation to generation until the day God’s ultimate plan is fulfilled. God also blessed them according to verse 21 of chapter 3: “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” He was preparing them for his final judgment for their disobedience. Verse 22: “And the Lord God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.’” You see, the gift God once

offered the man, the tree of life, was no longer an option for him. Man had proven he could not be obedient to God’s will, so God was no longer going to allow man, in his physical form, to be immortal. Verse 23: “So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.” Verse 24: “After he drove the man out, He placed on the East side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.” God realized man could not be trusted to wield the power of free will in his physical body. He knew having the knowledge of good and evil, man would be tempted again and again to be disobedient to him because man’s flesh is weak. The old saying of “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” is a straight up truth gleaned from the very beginning. But as I said, this is not the end of our journey. Oh no! God began writing what can only be called “The Greatest Story Ever Told…” As you have seen so far, we have only walked through the first three chapters of the Bible and have journeyed far. In other words, there is a lot of stuff in the Bible to talk about. When I decided to write this book and invite you along on the journey, it was meant to be a hiking devotional with a preface containing just a bit of background information. It has, however, morphed into much more. I realized as I began writing, I needed to cover three main topics in mankind’s history before starting the devotional. I wanted to make sure everyone had an opportunity to either learn for the first time or refresh their memory of these topics. Before you can believe God can help you through the trials and tribulations in your life, you have to have faith to believe first of all God is real. Second, there is a real separation between mankind and God called sin. And third, God in his unconditional love for mankind created a way to bridge the separation, allowing mankind to be with him for eternity in Heaven. In a nutshell, the topics are the creation, the fall, and the salvation of mankind. So far, we have dissected the creation to show where we came from and the fall to show how the separation from God happened. Now, it is time to talk about God’s revised plan for the salvation of mankind. , God’s original plan was for mankind not to die and live forever with him. Let us continue our journey together through God’s most remarkable plan. A plan that begins in the most unlikely of places, the tiny town of Bethlehem, and the foretold birth of a little baby boy. Before we talk about the scriptures prophesying the birth, we need to touch on something resulting from the birth that has affected everyone in the world,

believer and nonbeliever alike. That something just happens to be the way the entire world keeps track of the past, present, and future. The separation of the calendar between BC (before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini—in the year of our Lord), is divided by the one event in history that the whole world recognized, the birth of that tiny baby. Of course, in our all-inclusive society the have been changed to BCE (before common era) and CE (common era). Seriously, though, the event that caused the separation between the two parts of history, no matter what you want to call them, was the birth of Jesus Christ. Plain vanilla simple truth—BC, BCE, AD, CE, or LMNOP—the birth of Christ was a world-changing event. Why was it so important? This is where you better hang on tight because it is going to get chocolate-shake and french-fry good here in just a minute. It was so important because the birth of Christ was the beginning of God’s revised plan for the salvation of man. God chose the only path he could to fully understand the hearts and minds of man. He did this by allowing himself to be imparted into the virgin and be born of woman in the essence of his son, Jesus Christ. The brilliance of this action cannot be understood by the intellectual minds of history because it is such a simple, yet incredibly personal act from an all-loving God. God knew the only way to fully understand man was to be a man. The only way to experience this was to be born as man was born and to live a life as man lived a life. To face all that man faced and to feel all that man felt. Yet in all of that, to live that life as a sinless man. There is a very specific and important aspect of God you need to fully grasp to understand why God did what he did. God, as a holy and pure entity of goodness, cannot tolerate the essence of evilness in any form. From simple disobedience to extreme hatred, to God sin is sin. And like it or not, God will not allow sin in any form in his presence. You see, God knew that the only way to bridge the chasm created by man’s sin and disobedience was to have a pure and sinless sacrifice to atone for the sins of all mankind. We will discuss this in more —and I have to warn you—graphic detail later on. It is necessary for you to fully understand the sacrifice God and Jesus made for all of us. He chose this path for us. For you and for me. We will see how much this cost God a little later, but let me assure you, it was a price none of us would ever be willing to pay. The birth of Jesus Christ should not have been a surprise to anyone. Some wellknown scriptures prophesying this event were written between 800 BC and 600 BC. In the book of Isaiah, chapter 7 verse 14, the Bible tells us, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and give birth to

a Son and will call Him Immanuel.” I figured we might as well start off with a verse that in and of itself is nothing short of a miracle. Based on my limited knowledge of anatomy and biology, it is virtually impossible for a virgin, at least two thousand years ago, to become pregnant short of a miracle from the Lord God himself. While this topic really doesn’t need much more discussion, we will talk about it a bit more when we get to some new testament scriptures. Until then, let us turn our attention to the name God chose for this very special child. The Lord God stated the virgin shall call the child, Immanuel, which means “God with us.” There is so much meaning behind the reasoning for this name, and I promise we will dig deeper as we continue on. For now, just what we have learned about God so far. If God said it, he meant what he said and the way he said it. God was truly with us in the form of a tiny baby born of a virgin two thousand years ago. In the book of Micah, chapter 5 verse 2, the Bible tells us this prophecy: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for Me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” And finally, in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 23 verses 5 and 6, we are told (verse 5): “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.’” Verse 6: “In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior.” Just so you all know; David was chosen by God to be king over Israel approximately 1000 BC. God mentions that David was a man after his own heart. The Bible breaks down the lineage from David to Jesus, but we will not get into that in our particular story. I would encourage all of you to research this on your own. One thing I have learned in my life is to test what others say so that you know for a fact exactly what you believe and why you believe it. Back to the business at hand: lest we forget, God revealed the truth about the birth of Jesus some eight hundred years before the event. You see, God was preparing the world for a savior. One who would basically save mankind, well, truthfully, from himself. This savior was not just for a specific race of people like some may have thought. The Bible specifically mentions that the Jewish nation is looking for a savior or a messiah, but God loves his creation, mankind, and truly does not desire a single living being to miss out on an opportunity to spend eternity with him. The world’s vision of a savior was far different from God’s version of a savior,

so you can only imagine how shocked the world was when the Savior came in the form of a tiny baby. So shocked that the majority of the world and even God’s professed own people, the Jewish nation, did not believe that Jesus was the Savior then and still do not to this day. Enough with the Old Testament prophecies foretelling his birth. Let’s get to the good stuff: his miraculous conception, his birth, his life, and even though it was not good, his death. Well, he was only mostly dead (to coin a phrase from my favorite movie) for three days, but we will get to that later. I apologize in advance, but the only way to describe everything that occurred from the miraculous conception to the death of Jesus, in the depth it needs to be revealed, is to lay the foundation. I will do that through the story as it was written by one of his followers, Luke. I could simply stop right here for a while and tell you to read the book of Luke, but while some of you would, my guess is the majority of you would not. So while I have you as a captive audience, just sit back and absorb the knowledge I will share with you. It just might change your life. Before we get started, let me tell you just a tidbit of information about Luke. Like many of the followers of Jesus, Luke had a profession outside the calling to follow Jesus. Luke was a physician. Not that a specific profession means anything over another because followers of Jesus come from all walks of life. I just wanted you to know that Luke was probably more educated than most in his time. Oftentimes, education can play a bit of a hindrance when it comes to having the childlike faith Jesus talks about later in his life. This is because faith can be the direct opposite of fact, and to the educated this is sometimes difficult to comprehend. I say this out of personal knowledge, not out of judgment. Anyway, I think it quite interesting that one of the gospels of Jesus was written by an educated man. The first four verses in the first chapter of Luke demonstrate the intellectual and academic approach Luke took when writing his of Jesus’s life. Verse 1: “Many have undertaken to draw up an of the things that have been fulfilled among us.” Verse 2: “just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word (Jesus).” Verse 3: “With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly for you, most excellent Theophilus.” Verse 4: “so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.” Basically, what Luke is saying is that many people had taken it upon themselves

to write an of Jesus’s life based on information they gleaned from firsthand s as well as through others who had firsthand knowledge of the events in Jesus’s life. This can be confirmed based on the fact that three other disciples—Matthew, Mark, and John—all wrote s of Jesus’s life. Some more detailed than others but all from firsthand s or from information they received from individuals with firsthand s of events in Jesus’s life. Luke, on the other hand, took it a step further. Luke took a scientific approach investigating everything from the beginning in order to confirm all facts are true. He didn’t just assume things told to him from the beginning, such as facts surrounding the birth of Jesus, were true, but he confirmed they were true through investigation. Luke may not have been present during the events that occurred in Jesus’s life; however, he did confirm the facts he wrote about concerning Jesus’s life. Luke verified these facts from individuals having firsthand knowledge of Jesus’s life. Once again, I simply find it fascinating that an educated, intellectual, and academically inclined man was inspired by God to write an of Jesus’s life. I can’t help but believe that God did this for the exact purpose I just wrote about. To ensure an accurate, unbiased of Jesus’s life would be written so that two thousand years later, you and I could read that and be confident it is the truth. Verses 5 through 25 of the first chapter of Luke gives the of a priest named Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth, who was a relative of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Elizabeth was barren, and because she and Zechariah were well along in years, they believed they would not have children. In summary, these verses tell the story of God’s promise to them that they would have a child, not just any child, but one who would prepare the way for the Savior, Jesus Christ. Their son, known as John the Baptist, was filled with the Holy Spirit of God even since birth. When John grew up, he not only preached of the coming Messiah, but he also baptized people in water representing a new birth. Baptism is a physical representation of a person making a public confession of their faith in God and an acknowledgement of their sin. That sinful nature is submerged in water and comes forth cleansed. Baptism is also a symbolic representation of Jesus’s death, his burial, and his resurrection. While baptism is an important part of one’s walk with God, representing their public confession of their faith, baptism in and of itself will not save one’s soul from the condemnation and punishment for their sins. Only a belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and his death atoned for our sins can do that. We will talk about this in greater depth when we get to the

sacrifice Jesus made for us. The reason I touched on this portion of scripture is that John the Baptist plays an integral part in Jesus’s life as Jesus prepares to begin his ministry, so I felt it important that you knew a little about him. The rest of our story, and in my opinion the most important truth the Bible can teach us, will walk us through all aspects pertaining to Jesus: from his miraculous conception, his birth, his life, his death, and ultimately his resurrection. Yikes, I did it again. I got ahead of myself. Put the resurrection part on hold for just a bit longer. Though quite lengthy, the story of Jesus will bring everything we have been talking about to a conclusion and a beginning. The conclusion of God’s perfect plan for the salvation of mankind and a beginning of a pathway for mankind to commune with God for all eternity. There is nothing like finishing a story only to have it end with an edge-of-your-seat cliff-hanger, making you crazy with anticipation for the sequel. Trust me when I say that you don’t want to miss the sequel. No, I am not talking about another book. I am talking about your eternity with God in Heaven. I just had to make sure we were on the same page before I went on. Verses 26 through 38 of the first chapter of Luke gives us the of the conception of Jesus as told by the Angel Gabriel to the virgin Mary, Jesus’s mother. Verse 26: “In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee.” Verse 27: “to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendent of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.” Verse 28: “The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are favored! The Lord is with you.’” Verse 29: “Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.” Verse 30: “But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.” Verse 31: “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call him Jesus.” Verse 32: “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most-High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.” Verse 33: “and He will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; His kingdom will never end.” Verse 34: “‘How will this be,’ Mary asked, ‘Since I am a virgin?’” Verse 35: “The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the MostHigh will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.’” Verse 36: “Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.” Verse 37: “For no word from God will ever fail.” Verse 38: “‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May your word to me be fulfilled.’ Then the angel left her.”

Wow, a lot to chew on here so let’s just jump in with both feet. While the Bible does not specifically tell how old Mary was when the angel visited her, most scholars agree she was probably quite young. I cannot even imagine how she must have felt when the angel told her of God’s plan. I realize the scripture indicates she was obedient and in full agreement with everything the angel told her, but for goodness’ sake, a teenager pledged to be married ending up pregnant, especially two thousand years ago. I cannot imagine her story of an angel coming to her and telling her she was going to conceive by the Holy Spirit and give birth to the Son of God would have went over well. I am sure she was so very scared. Now consider Joseph for a moment. A young virgin, pledged to be your wife, comes to you and says, “I am pregnant by the Holy Spirit, and I am going to give birth to the Son of God.” Can you even begin to imagine his initial response? The first chapter of the book of Matthew tells us that Joseph was a righteous man and a believer of the law, but he did not want to subject Mary to public disgrace, so he planned on divorcing her quietly. Though they had not yet formally been married, the pledge of marriage required a certificate of divorce under the law. Obviously, Joseph cared for Mary and wanted her to avoid the ridicule, and I am sure he didn’t want to face the questioning either. Matthew tells us that, as Joseph slept, an angel of the Lord came to him in a dream and told him to not be afraid to take Mary into his home as his wife. The angel confirmed to Joseph that what was conceived in Mary was from the Holy Spirit of God, and she would give birth to a son. They were to name the child Jesus for he would save his people from their sins. Thus, fulfilling the Old Testament prophecy. Joseph obeyed and honored the pledge for Mary to be his wife; however, the Bible tells us that Joseph did not consummate the marriage until the baby was born. The Christmas story, as some of you may know it. For others, the birth of Christ. Jesus, by God’s brilliant design, was and is the Messiah. The Savior the world had been and for some are still looking for. I absolutely love how God does things. Mankind, looking for this all-powerful, charismatic leader who will bring peace and prosperity to the whole world. God, bringing forth the Savior of mankind in the form of a tiny baby to one of the most obscure places in the known world. Luke chapter 2 verses 1–21 give us the of Jesus’s birth. Since you and I have traveled this far together, I am going to ask you to trust me, even though you do not know me from Adam (biblical pun). Seriously, I am going to paraphrase sections of the Bible to help with the flow of our story. Since we have developed a mutual trust to this point, I will ask you to not only read the

portions of scripture I reference, but for your own edification, I would encourage you to read the entire Bible. It truly is the living word of God, and if you open yourself to it, you will glean marvelous truths about the God who loves you. With that behind us, we have a birthday to celebrate. In the time around Jesus’s birth, the Roman Empire still had authority over a wide area, including the lands of Galilee, Samaria, and Judea (basically modern-day Israel). The ruler over the Roman Empire, Caesar Augustus, ordered a census be taken of the entire Roman world. Everyone had to go to their own town and be counted. Joseph and Mary, who was very pregnant at the time, went from where they were living in the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to the town of Bethlehem (the city of David) in Judea, because Joseph belonged to the line and the house of David. When they arrived in Bethlehem, it was time for the baby to be born. You can only imagine how busy Bethlehem must have been because of the census. So busy, in fact, that there was no room available even for a pregnant woman in labor. The Bible tells us that Mary gave birth to a baby boy, and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes and placed him in a manger. Before you ask, swaddling clothes are strips of cloth used to wrap a baby snugly to comfort them. The other elephant in the room is the word manger. A manger is basically a food trough normally used for livestock and typically found in a stable. Picture this if you will. The Son of the Living God took his first breath in a barnyard with the company of livestock and other farm animals. There surely couldn’t have been a humbler beginning. At the same time, there were shepherds in the nearby fields watching over their flocks. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone all around them. The Bible tells us the shepherds were terrified. I have to snicker a bit thinking of that scene on a hilltop where grown men were more than likely screaming like children and rolling around on the ground, scared out of their minds. At least that is probably how I would have reacted. The angel said to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly hosts appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” Goose bumps, goose bumps, goose bumps…

Happens every time I read that. I just have to talk about the celebration of heavenly hosts first, and then we can talk about the shepherds. I mean, like, holy cow. Heaven couldn’t take it anymore. The excitement spilled from Heaven onto a lowly hilltop outside Bethlehem, and there was a party! The Savior had been born, and Heaven busted some serious moves. I honestly believe they couldn’t help it. Can you even imagine the pent-up expectations in the heavenly realm patiently waiting for God to unleash his salvation plan for mankind, and finally when it began with the birth of the Savior, bang, Heaven erupted with praises and hallelujahs? I would apologize for that side trip, but I am not actually sorry. I had a little hallelujah party myself just writing that. Anyway, let’s get back to the shepherds. Hear ye, hear ye, all ye rulers of the land; nope, that’s not it. Hear ye, hear ye, all ye religious leaders of the land; nope, that’s not it either. Hear ye, hear ye, lowly shepherds of the field. Yep, that’s more like it. Why in the world would God announce the birth of his son, the Savior of the world, to a group of shepherds? The simple answer is that God announced the birth of his son the way he did because it was exactly how he wanted it to happen. My simple answer would be that, throughout history, God has used those in society that no one would expect, yet were willing to accomplish the perfect plan he has designed. God doesn’t need a so-called perfect person to complete his perfect plan because perfect people tend to have their own agenda intertwined in their actions. Broken people with a willing and thankful heart, however, have proven time and time again to be the perfect vessels to accomplish God’s perfect plan. After the angel had left the shepherds, they said to themselves, “Let’s go down to Bethlehem and see that which the Lord has told us about.” They found Joseph, Mary, and the baby lying in the manger just as the angel had told them. After they had seen them, the shepherds did exactly what God knew they would do. They spread the word about what they had been told and what they had seen, and all who heard were amazed. The shepherds then returned praising and glorifying God for the things they had heard and seen. On the eighth day the baby was circumcised and given the name Jesus, which had been given to him by the angel of God prior to his conception. Verses 22–40 of the second chapter of Luke give us the of the presentation of Jesus in the temple of Jerusalem as was mandatory under the law. Under the law of Moses, every first-born male must be taken to the temple in Jerusalem to be consecrated to the Lord. An offering must also be presented in keeping with the law of the Lord. The irony in this is that Mary and Joseph took Jesus, who would ultimately fulfill the law with his sacrificial death, terminating

the need for these offerings. There was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon who the Bible says was a righteous and devout man. The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. While in the temple courts, Simeon saw Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus. He took the baby in his arms and began praising God, saying, “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” Simeon’s divine proclamation that this tiny baby was God’s new plan for the salvation of not only the Jewish nation, but also for all of mankind was astonishing. For those of you who do not know, Gentile refers to any non-Jewish person. So Simeon’s statement of Jesus being a light for the revelation of the Gentiles and the glory of the people of Israel (or Jewish nation) shows from the very beginning that God planned for Jesus to be the Messiah or Savior of all mankind and not just a specific group of people. , God loves his creation, mankind. And even though the Jewish nation is considered his chosen people, we are all his sons and daughters. Simeon blessed them and gave a specific prophetic word, or warning if you will, to Mary saying, “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.” In other words, this baby is gonna turn the world upside down. Simeon also warned Mary that a sword would pierce her own soul as well. This was a prophetic warning to Mary referencing the pain she would feel resulting from Jesus’s suffering and death. A pain only a mother could feel to the depths of her very soul. When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the law, they returned to Galilee and to their own town of Nazareth. The boy Jesus grew strong and was filled with wisdom and the grace of God. Luke chapter 2 verses 41–52 gives us yet another story of Jesus in the temple of Jerusalem. As was their custom, Mary and Joseph, along with all of their family, would travel to Jerusalem every year to celebrate the Feast of the over. The Feast of the over was a Jewish celebration to the night the angel of death ed over the Jewish households while they were still yet in bondage in Egypt. The full story can be found in the book of Exodus, chapters 11 and 12. One year, when Jesus was twelve years old, the feast had concluded so Mary and Joseph, along with their family, began their journey back to Galilee. Unbeknownst to them, Jesus had stayed behind in Jerusalem. After traveling for about a day, Mary and Joseph began looking for Jesus because up

until then, they thought he was among their relatives. After realizing he was not there, they traveled back to Jerusalem to look for him. They searched for Jesus for three days and finally found him in the temple sitting among the teachers, listening to them, and asking questions. Everyone who heard Jesus speak was amazed at his understanding and the answers he had. Mary and Joseph were astonished seeing and hearing him with the teachers of the law. Mary confronted Jesus, asking Him, “Why have you treated us this way? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” Jesus’s answer to her was simple, yet very complex. He said, “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my father’s house.” The Bible tells us that they did not understand what he was saying to them. I believe the “they” the Bible refers to was the teachers of the law. Obviously, Mary and Joseph knew Jesus was the Son of the most-high God, so they surely would have understood Jesus’s reference to the temple being his father’s house. Jesus returned with them to Nazareth, in Galilee, and the Bible says he was obedient to them. It also says Jesus grew in wisdom and stature as well as gained favor with God and men. This is the last the Bible tells us about Jesus until he begins his ministry at the age of thirty, which we will get to shortly. Why the eighteen-year gap? I think the answer can be found in the reasoning of why God chose the path and the manner in which he planned salvation for mankind. , we talked about the only way God could understand the heart of man, which was to live a life as a man from birth to death. While you are a child you are in a constant state of learning from your parents, and as the Bible stated, Jesus was obedient. What generally happens to a person between the ages of twelve and thirty? The answer is a lot! Anyone who has raised a child through the teenage years knows exactly what I am talking about. My wife and I raised three boys, and yes, they made it to adulthood. Anyway, I believe during the eighteen years of biblical silence about Jesus, Jesus did just as the Bible said he did. Jesus grew in wisdom and stature. In other words, he learned what it was like to become a man. He faced all of the same issues we face. Because of this, God gained an understanding, an insight to the heart of man. God finally understood what makes mankind do the things mankind does, oftentimes the exact opposite of what God desires us to do. Before you start making assumptions and start spreading untruths, let me be

perfectly clear. Just because Jesus felt the same things we feel and faced the same issues we face, it does not mean that he sinned against God. You are forgetting a couple small facts. First of all Jesus, though he was a man, was also the true physical and spiritual Son of God. Second, when Jesus faced the temptations this world threw at him, he turned to the one with all the answers— his father, God, for help. The Bible also tells us as Jesus grew—he found favor with God and men. I can guarantee you, if Jesus had sinned, he would not have been the perfect sinless sacrifice for the salvation of mankind, and we would still be sacrificing animals hoping God was happy with us instead of knowing God is happy with us in Jesus. God’s plan for the salvation of mankind was in full swing, but we are just getting to the good stuff. Better hold on, because the rest of our journey learning about Jesus will be nothing short of miraculous. John the Baptist, a relative a Jesus, was in the wilderness preaching of the coming Messiah and baptizing people. Many thought John was in fact the Messiah, but John rebuked them saying, “I baptize with water, but one will come more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Jesus came from Galilee to Jordan to be baptized by John; however, John tried to dissuade Jesus, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now. It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” This interaction is described in the book of Matthew chapter 3 verses 13–15. After Jesus was baptized by John, Heaven opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the physical form of a dove. And a voice came from Heaven, saying, “You are my son, whom I love, with you I am well pleased.” Thus, the beginning of the earthly ministry of Jesus, the son of the Living God and the salvation for all mankind. He was thirty years old when he was baptized. Jesus’s baptism was not only a public confession of his faith and trust in his father, God, but it was also a public confession from his father, God, a reference to his love for his son. There was zero doubt at this point that Jesus was truly the Son of the Living God. Unlike modern times where multiple media outlets and social media platforms dominate worldwide communications, the only thing in existence in the time of Jesus was word of mouth and limited written documents. Up until now, all the people in the area had were stories from shepherds telling them an angel of the Lord appeared to them proclaiming the Messiah had been born. Not having all

the information we have today, I am sure the vast majority of people considered them crazy in the least and more likely that they had too much wine on the hilltop. Then they have the word of an old man in the temple courts professing about how he can now die since he has seen the Messiah. Who would believe the rants of an old man? Finally, there was a twelve-year-old showing up the teachers of the law with his knowledge. They obviously did not understand him when he mentioned being in his father’s house, nor would they ever it that their Messiah was a mere boy. But now, the very heavens opened up, and the Lord God Almighty spoke. Certainly, there could be no doubt Jesus was, and is, the Son of the Most-High. But alas, as God has learned over the millennia dealing with mankind, there is always doubt in the hearts of mankind even in the very face of truth. We will address that in just a bit. But first, Jesus’s final preparation before starting his earthly ministry. Jesus fully understood the connection between the flesh and the spirit. He knew that in order to complete the task God had for him, he must take full mastery over his flesh by allowing his spirit to be in control. Jesus fully recognized and accepted his role in God’s perfect plan for the salvation of mankind; however, he knew it would be a very difficult road to walk. I want us to stop here for a minute and get in the mindset of Jesus before we go further. We all know we are going to die when our day comes. Just imagine what each day of your life would feel like if you knew your death was imminent and that you would experience excruciating pain and suffering for people you did not even know. I know, Jesus was the Son of God, but he was also the son of Mary, which made him a man. I cannot even fathom having to carry that burden every day all while trying to fulfill his other mission of reaching out to the lost souls and sharing the good news of salvation. Even Jesus’s flesh was weak, so he knew he must prepare himself for the difficulties that lay ahead. After Jesus was baptized, the Bible tells us in Luke chapter 4 verses 1–13 of his preparation journey. Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. For forty days Jesus ate nothing and was tempted by the devil. The devil did not care that Jesus was the Son of God, because he knew the flesh of man was weak. If the devil is able to tempt the flesh to the point where the spirit loses control, then he has won. At least a battle, but never the war. We must always be prepared for his attacks and fight them in the spirit with God’s word and God’s help. Jesus was hungry after going forty days without eating, so the devil said to him,

“If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” Jesus, weary but aware of the devil’s tactics, responded with the word of God, proclaiming, “It is written: man does not live on bread alone.” The devil then led Jesus to a high place where in an instant he showed Jesus all the kingdoms in the world. He told Jesus he would give him all authority over the kingdoms of the earth if Jesus would bow down and worship him. Jesus once again responded with the word of God, saying, “It is written: worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” The devil, I am sure getting very frustrated, led Jesus to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. The devil, once again prodding Jesus, said, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, he will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Jesus, yet once again, recognizing the devil’s attempt to distort God’s word for his own benefit, replied with the true word of God, saying, “It is written: do not put the Lord your God to the test.” The devil then left Jesus after he failed to tempt him. We can glean some very important truths from this encounter between Jesus and the devil. First of all, we see yet once again that the devil will use many tactics in his desire to tempt you to sin against God. All of which are direct temptations of the flesh. , the flesh is weak and vulnerable to the devil’s schemes. We also learn that the devil is well versed on the word of God and is not afraid to distort it in an attempt to confuse and mislead you into believing half-truths or even all-out lies. Most importantly, we learn how to recognize and defend ourselves against the attacks of the devil. Jesus demonstrated the word of God as a weapon against the evil one. The caveat to this is you have to know the word of God so that you cannot be misled by a half-truth or an all-out lie. You also cannot use the word of God as an offensive attack against the devil if you do not know what it says. There is a reason why in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 17 that the Word of God is referred to as the sword of the Spirit. There will be times in your life when you cannot simply sit back cowering from the devil as he attacks you and your family. Yes, prayer is a powerful and necessary tool to ask God for help, but there are times when you need to draw the sword of the

Spirit and give the devil a full-on frontal assault, blasting him with the word of God. Please hear me. You need to prepare for these battles by reading and learning the word of God, so you do not become another notch in the devil’s gun belt of defeated souls. Over the course of our journey together, I have presented, sometimes vaguely, God’s ultimate plan for the salvation of mankind. As you know by now, Jesus, God’s son, was destined to be the sinless sacrifice for the sinful creation known as mankind. This plan of salvation is oftentimes referred to as the good news or the gospel of Jesus. In reality, while it is good news for mankind, it is a heartbreaking saga of an ultimate sacrifice made willingly by Jesus. But before we get there, we have to address a big issue God had before him. How does he get the good news to the people, and how does he afford them the opportunity to believe in that good news? As I stated earlier, God has had many dealings with mankind and their unbelief throughout history. Time and time again, he had to demonstrate his power and authority to convince mankind that he is God and his will be done. No better example of this can be found than the story of Moses and the Exodus of the Hebrew people from their bondage in Egypt. God sent a multitude of plagues on the land of Egypt in an attempt to convince the pharaoh that he was the one true God and that he was to free the Hebrew people from their bondage. In typical denial in the face of truth, the pharaoh refused to believe. God ultimately sent a plague of the firstborn over the land of Egypt. All firstborn children of the house of Egypt perished, resulting in pharaoh releasing the Hebrew people. Even after witnessing the power of the one true God, the pharaoh hardened his heart and began to pursue the Hebrew people, ultimately cornering them at the Red Sea. God once again demonstrated his power and authority by parting the Red Sea, allowing the Hebrew people to cross, and then causing the waters to come crashing down on the pharaoh’s army, killing them all. To add insult to injury, later in the Exodus story of the Hebrew people, they turned against Moses and God multiple times and at one point even stated they were better off in bondage back in Egypt. That is a different story for another day. I said all of that to say this: God knew that simply having Jesus wander the countryside preaching the good news wouldn’t be enough. Mankind would not listen, and if they did, they would not believe more than a minute. God had to make the good news Jesus preached impactful. People needed to witness the power of the one true God, not as a mere parlor trick, but to allow them to see

and understand that the good news Jesus preached was the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help him—him. A little God humor. God accomplished this by allowing Jesus to perform numerous miracles throughout his earthly ministry. Like I stated, these miracles were not done by Jesus as a prideful act to impress people and win friends. Jesus performed these miracles to impact people’s hearts and lives to leave a lasting memory of God’s power and authority, yes, but more so God’s unconditional love to those who truly know him. God knew that the only way to secure the longevity of Jesus’s salvation mission was to impact people so intensely that the stories of these miracles and the love that God has for mankind would not be forgotten until the conclusion of God’s plan and the final amen is said. To this point, I have tried to establish a foundation so you understand God’s plan and Jesus’s mission. I believe I could stop here, and you would have that understanding. However, the story is only half told, and you would be missing many blessings. Because of this, I will continue with some of the many stories pertaining to Jesus’s ministry that I feel will encourage and edify your understanding even further. And of course, the story of Jesus will not be complete until we talk about the end/beginning. You will understand that when we get there. After Jesus’s encounter with the devil, the Bible says he returned to Galilee in the Spirit, and news about him spread throughout the countryside. He made teleportation cool before sci-fi was even invented. Jesus taught in the synagogues, and everyone praised him. That is until he returned to his hometown of Nazareth. He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath as was his custom and stood to read the scroll of Isaiah. Jesus read the following scripture from the book of Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” After Jesus read the scripture, he sat down and all eyes were fastened on him. He began by saying, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Basically, Jesus was telling them that this scripture had been fulfilled in him. Even though everyone in the synagogue was amazed by his words, their only response was “Isn’t this Joseph’s son.” In other words, who does this son of a carpenter think he is, coming in to the synagogue spewing such blasphemy? Jesus, in typical Jesus fashion, very bluntly explained to them that no prophet is accepted in his hometown. You will learn that Jesus never minced words. He

was blunt, specific, and very much to the point when he spoke. Everyone in the synagogue was furious with Jesus and forced him out of the synagogue. They led him up the hill in which the town was built on, with the intent to throw him off the cliff. The Bible says Jesus simply walked through the crowd and went on his way. This portion of scripture has significant meaning, much like many scriptures we have and will talk about. I wanted to share this story, especially for those of you who are battling your beliefs with unbelieving family or friends. The truth is a double-edged sword. What I mean by this is that believing in Jesus is absolutely the greatest decision I have ever made in my life. The relationship I have with God through his son Jesus is beyond explanation. Transparency and truth will reveal the other side of the sword in that you will be alienated from some people in your life. I have found that the majority of people in my life, who are nonbelievers, accept me in my faith, mainly because they know me and see the kind of man I am in my faith. The best advice I can give you is to live out your proclamation of faith as a man or woman of God. Do not live one way when you are around certain people and then conform to fit in when you are around others. This does nothing for your personal walk with God and only makes you seem like a hypocrite to others. You are worth more than that and so is God. There are those people who will not accept your faith and will even try to dissuade your beliefs. Honestly, you should pray for those people, but you should not allow their negativity to influence you, even if it means you intentionally alienate yourself from them. I am specifically talking about people close to you because we all know there are others in the world who will simply hate you because of your faith. Jesus himself tells us later in scripture that many will hate you because of me. We see every day around the world where people are hated and even martyred because of their faith in Jesus. This is also another story for a different time. Regardless of the price, a relationship with God through his son, Jesus, is worth it. Jesus went from Nazareth down to Capernaum, a small town in Galilee. On the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and began teaching the people. They were amazed at his teaching because his message had authority. While teaching, a demon-possessed man cried out at the top of his voice, “Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are— the Holy One of God.” Jesus commanded, “Be quiet, come out of him.” Instantly the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him. All the people

were amazed, asking, “What is this teaching? With authority and power, He gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!” News about Jesus began to spread throughout the surrounding area. It never ceases to amaze me how much information can be found in one small paragraph from the Bible. The most glaring truth staring us in the face is that yes, demons do exist. Evil spirits, demons, anti-angels (just made that one up), regardless what you want to call them, they do exist. We talked earlier about Satan’s fall from Heaven and with him, one-third of the angels in Heaven. Satan and his evil minions exist on earth with the sole purpose of turning mankind’s heart away from God. We also learn in this story that demon possession is a very real thing and not some fairytale created for a B-movie horror flick. from earlier in our journey when we learned we are spiritual beings living in a physical body? That spirit can be influenced by good and serve God, or it can be influenced by evil and serve Satan. And yes, the spirit can control the physical body and influence the mind to act in certain ways. It is not difficult to believe that many issues that exist in today’s world are misdiagnosed issues caused by spiritual battles existing within people. A muchsubtler truth is also found in this encounter. No one in the synagogue even knew the man was possessed with an evil spirit until he was in the presence of the Son of God. Satan is the master manipulator. The master deceiver. In the physical world, someone influenced and manipulated by Satan will more than likely look like me and you. That is why the Bible informs us to test every spirit. You have to , we just learned Satan knows the word of God and knows it well. You cannot simply listen to the words of a man/woman and believe them. You must test their spirit. Do their actions edify God and build the kingdom of Heaven by acknowledging Jesus Christ is the Son of God? , darkness (evil) cannot exist in the light (goodness). We all must be very careful to guard our hearts and our minds and not allow Satan to deceive us with his manipulation and tricks. That, my friends, is done through knowledge of the scriptures; a relationship with God through his son, Jesus Christ; and allowing the Holy Spirit to dwell in you and guide your steps. After leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to the home of Simon (who he later named Peter). Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, so Jesus was asked to help her. Jesus bent over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up immediately and began to serve them. As news of Jesus began to spread far and wide, many people began to follow him as was the case this day.

Celebrities think they have issues with paparazzi nowadays; just imagine what it was like to be Jesus. Obviously, Jesus welcomed everyone who came; it was just extremely difficult for him to find solitude because of the masses of people who began to follow him. It appears that God’s plan to get the good news spread to all was working just as he planned it—imagine that. The Bible tells us that while at Simon’s house at sunset, people brought all who were afflicted with various kinds of sicknesses. Jesus lay hands on each of them, and they were healed. I really like the statement the Bible makes about Jesus laying hands on people and they were healed. The simple act of laying hands on someone creates a sense of closeness. A personal connection from the Son of God to a hurting soul. As we read earlier, Jesus didn’t need to touch anyone to heal them (Simon’s mother-in-law), but I believe he did it to create that sense of oneness with people. Along with those healed physically, there were also many demons who came out of people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” However, Jesus rebuked them and would not let them speak because they knew he was the Messiah. I believe Jesus did this because it was not yet time for him to be truly revealed as the Messiah. As we will find out later, many of the religious leaders of the day were skeptical in the least about Jesus, and more so wanted him dead because in their minds he was creating turmoil among the people and was committing blasphemy. At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. Jesus often searched for solitude to pray and commune with his Father. As with many aspects of Jesus, we all need to take heed when the Bible mentions things that Jesus did. I am quite sure it is not only important for him, but if we follow his lead, I am convinced we too will be blessed. A lot can be said about turning off the world around us and focusing solely on God. This is oftentimes near impossible with our busy schedules, but if Jesus could do it, so can we. Jesus knew that in order to spread the good news while he was alive and to further the message after he was gone, he would need help. This help would come in the form of disciples. A disciple can be defined as a believer or follower of a teacher or leader. There was no application process or fancy boardroom where interviews were conducted. Jesus chose his disciples in what the world would call an unconventional manner. That is okay because Jesus was unconventional. The Bible tells us in the fifth chapter of Luke, Jesus was standing by Lake Gennesaret (also known as the Sea of Galilee) sharing the word of God with the people who had crowded around him. He noticed two

boats on the edge of the water left by the fisherman who were washing their nets. Jesus got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon (Peter), and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Once on the water, Jesus began teaching the people on the shore. When Jesus had finished speaking, he told Simon, “Put out in deeper water and to let down your net for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master we have worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything, but because you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had finished, they had caught so many fish, their nets began to rip. They had to signal their partners in the other boat to come and help with the catch. Simon Peter fell to his knees, proclaiming to Jesus, “Go away from me, Lord, I am a sinful man,” for he and his companions, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were astonished at their catch. Jesus responded, “Don’t be afraid, from now on you will catch men.” So they pulled their boats up on shore and left everything and followed Jesus. There are many exciting truths to be gotten from this story of Jesus. First of all, we see Jesus’s unconventional approach to selecting disciples. Although unconventional, that simple fishing trip demonstrated the obedience and the humble hearts of Simon Peter, James, and John. What we can learn from this is that Jesus may very well ask something of us when we are weary just as he did Simon Peter. The question is, will you be obedient, and if so, why? Oh, it would be easy to say yes if you knew there was a blessing on the other end, like the catch of fish for Simon Peter. But Simon Peter did not know he would catch fish; he merely was obedient to what Jesus asked him to do because he loved, honored, and respected him. Please understand this simple yet complex truth. We do not serve to be served. We do not give to get. We do not sacrifice to get blessings. Simon Peter demonstrated his humble heart by falling to his knees, proclaiming to Jesus that he was a sinful man. That moment is a revelation to the kind of man he was. We too must do the things Jesus calls us to do with humility, expecting nothing in return, out of a simple love, honor, and respect for the Son of the Most-High. I hate to burst some bubbles here, but if you are serving, giving, or sacrificing with anything other than a humble heart, you are only fooling yourself and quite

honestly wasting your time. We have to ask ourselves this question: does God really need us to help him do anything? The answer, in case you do not know, is no. God asks us to serve, to give, and to sacrifice as a test of our hearts. God knows the hearts of mankind and knows the spirit in which things are done, so don’t even believe for a second you can get one over on God. The flip side of the coin is that God can and will bless you for being obedient in serving, giving, and sacrificing for the kingdom if done with a humble heart. One day, while Jesus was teaching, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were there listening. People had come from every town in Galilee, Judea, and from Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was on Jesus to heal the sick. Some men had brought a paralyzed man, carrying him on a mat, to the home where Jesus was. They could not get in because of the large crowds, so the men took the man to the roof and lowered him on his mat, through the tiles, and laid him in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone? Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat, and go home.” Immediately he stood up, picked up his mat, and went home, praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They all stated, “We have seen some remarkable things today.” Ya think? Friends, I am so glad we decided to venture on our discovery of Jesus together. There are so many truths and so many bits of wisdom to be learned not only about Jesus, but also about our faith and our walk with him as we journey through life. This portion of scripture gives us a wonderful insight to the blessings that can be bestowed when love for fellow human beings is displayed and faith in the power of God is demonstrated. The men who carried the paralyzed man showed great love and comion for him. They refused to take no for an answer and made a way to get him to Jesus. They knew. They had faith to believe that if they could only get him to Jesus, then he would be made whole. This is the same kind of comion, love, and faith we need to demonstrate not

only to those we are close to, but to all of mankind that is lost. Does it matter if they have a physical abnormality or if their soul is lost and they are headed straight for an eternity of separation from God? No, it doesn’t matter. Each case requires forgiveness of sins and a healing of either their body or their soul. They need Jesus, and it is up to us who have the faith in Jesus to get them there. I find it more than interesting that Jesus told the paralyzed man his sins were forgiven before he healed his body and told him to take up his mat and go home. Wait, am I saying that someone cannot be healed if they are a sinner? Nope, I would never put the God of the universe in such a small box as that. I hope we have learned by now that God can and will do what he wants and needs to do to fulfill his ultimate plan. What I am saying is I believe, as a man, that it would be foolish of me to say I have faith in God and expect God to heal me if I was willingly sinning against him. The other obvious nugget of knowledge we learn from this age is a bit unnerving. Well, only if you thought your thoughts were off limits and the sole property of You Incorporated. Notice in this portion of scripture that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were only thinking that Jesus was blasphemous and did not outwardly say anything. Notice also that Jesus knew exactly what they were thinking, and believe it or not, I know what you are thinking right now, and I am not Jesus. Yes, it is true. Even your thoughts are subject to the rigorous test of holiness, but not for reasons you might think. There is a reason the Bible tells us to take every thought captive for the obedience of Christ. , we talked about how if you dwell on evil or wrong thoughts, they can influence your actions and ultimately come to fruition. I believe Jesus is just letting us know that he knows the evils that lurk in the minds of mankind, literally, so we better do something to take control of it, or at some point, he will. Trust me, you really do not want that to happen. The authority of Jesus to perform miracles like healing sickness and disease as well as to forgive sins was not his alone, but given to him by God the Father. Jesus was acting under the full authority and approval of his father, God. I realize that we have been discussing Jesus for quite some time now on our journey. I do not apologize for it because I believe it is all so very important for us to understand. As you can see, each encounter we have shared provides yet another aspect of Jesus and how he relates to each of our lives today. Imagine the time we are sharing like it is a long-distance hike, full of beautiful vistas and magnificent waterfalls. Surely you wouldn’t want to take a side trail detour and

miss any of the good stuff. Seriously, though, to fully understand Jesus as a man, as the Son of God, and as our Savior we need to learn as much about him as we possibly can. The best way, in my opinion, is to continue to walk through his life and see where we end up. Jesus was out one day and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting in his tax booth. Jesus walked up to him and said, “Follow me.” Levi got up, left everything, and followed Jesus. I can feel your head spinning and wondering, what in the world? This is twice the Bible tells us that people simply left everything to follow Jesus. What is even more remarkable is that tax collectors were reviled by most Jewish people because of their perceived collaboration with the Roman rulers. Like I said earlier, Jesus did things in a very unconventional manner, always with a purpose, but very unconventional. Levi held a great banquet at his house for Jesus. A large crowd of tax collectors and others were there eating with them. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law questioned Jesus’s disciples about why they would eat with tax collectors and sinners? Jesus, aware of what they were asking, answered them, saying, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Let’s talk about this for a minute. By no means was Jesus condoning a sinful lifestyle. The Bible doesn’t say that nor does it even insinuate that. What the Bible tells us is that Jesus loves both the righteous and the sinner alike, and he is not afraid to seek out the sinner where they are. Jesus never told anyone it was all right to keep on sinning. Quite the contrary. When he healed people, he told them their sins were forgiven and to sin no more. Jesus also never participated in sinful things just to fit in and be one of the boys. If you have ever thought about that or, Heaven forbid, ever done that, please stop. You are only causing separation between you and God, not to mention doing nothing for your profession of faith to the boys you are so worried about being part of. Proclaim your faith, stand firm, do not be afraid to seek sinners out where they are with a nonjudgmental heart, and simply present the good news. Do not be like the Pharisees and teachers of the law who were content being in their self-righteous circle ing condemnation on anyone not acting just like them. There is only one thing worse than being a sinner with a one-way ticket to an eternity without God, and that is being a self-righteous so-called believer with a one-way ticket straight to an eternity without God.

Before we go any further, I want to look back at the previous paragraph and make sure we are all on the same page. I do not want us to press forward until I am sure we all understand this pertains to us. First of all, I want to reexamine a question I feel is swirling around in the gray area we call reality. Who is a sinner? The simple answer to that is anyone living outside the will of God. Which brings us to the next question: what is the will of God for our life? While the answer to that can be more complex depending on God’s specific will for your specific life, the overall answer is still quite simple. Get to know God. Develop a relationship with him, and you will begin to understand his desired will for your life. I know, I know. How do we do that? Goodness, you are just so full of questions. The easiest way to develop a relationship with God the Father is to develop a relationship with Jesus, his son. Get to know the personhood of Jesus as he lived his life here on earth. I am not talking about a simple acknowledgement of who he was, although that will get you a ticket to the big game. But you truly need to begin to understand who he was and how he lived his life. Follow the example Jesus gives us, and you will gain an understanding of the will God has for your life. I am not going to give you a list of “Thou shalt nots” because God has already done that back in the day. Believe it or not, they still apply today even though Jesus came to fulfill the law; he did not abolish the laws. Read the Bible for yourself and learn. Do not focus only on the “Thou shalt nots,” but also learn how Jesus applied God’s laws to daily living. Jesus showed God’s love and forgiveness without compromising God’s requirement of holy living. There is one thing I want to emphasize in all of this. Please do not confuse God’s love, his grace, and his forgiveness for the acceptance of sin. There is a cost for unforgiven sin, and that cost is death and an eternity outside of God’s presence. God has not changed. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He cannot nor will he condone, accept, or allow sin and disobedience in his presence. Do not ever fall prey to the acceptance of the gradual that our society has so become a victim to. What is acceptable in the eyes of mankind may not be acceptable in the eyes of God. The litmus test to determine if something is acceptable better be made using the eyes of God, or I am afraid you may be in for a huge disappointment. Many of the issues Jesus had with the Pharisees and the teachers of the law had to do with the Old Testament Levitical laws. It wasn’t the laws, but how the Pharisees and teachers of the law interpreted and enforced them. Let’s talk about the Sabbath for a minute or two. One Sabbath day, Jesus and his disciples were

going through the grain fields, and the disciples being hungry began to pick some heads of grain and rubbed them in their hands to eat the kernels. Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” Jesus answered them by saying, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for the priests to eat and he also gave some to his companions.” He also told them, “The Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath.” Before we discuss this, on another Sabbath Jesus went to the synagogue to teach, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they were watching Jesus closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” The man got up and stood in front. Then Jesus said to all of them, “I ask you which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy it?” Jesus looked around at all of them and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did as Jesus commanded, and his hand was completely restored. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss what they could do to Jesus. The issue here is what did God say about the Sabbath, and how did the Pharisees and teachers of the law interpret and enforce it? When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, the law of the Sabbath was one of them. The fourth to be exact. What God said to Moses was “ the Sabbath and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Nowhere in that commandment does it say we cannot eat or, more importantly, that we cannot do what is good on the Sabbath. As a matter of fact, it says in simple black and white that we are to keep it holy. What in the world is more holy then healing someone and making them whole? Jesus was simply trying to tell the Pharisees and the teachers of the law that doing what is righteous and holy can and should be done whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Obviously, if Jesus is saying this and doing this, he has God’s approval. I believe God blessed the Sabbath and made it holy for two purposes. Number one was so we would to acknowledge and honor him for the magnificent creation he made, and number two because he was dog-tired after doing it and needed rest. God understood what it meant to be tired, and he was forcing mankind to take a day and simply rest. He did not say we couldn’t eat or do what was righteous and holy; he simply wanted us to honor him and rest from our labors. Throughout Jesus’s entire ministry while he was here on earth, he wanted people to understand the love God had for them. The reason Jesus continually butted heads with the Pharisees and religious leaders of his day was because of their legalistic approach to a relationship with God. While their intentions may have been good, their whole approach was not. God never wanted his creation to fear him. The only reason God created the law in the first place was because mankind continually disobeyed and sinned against his will for them. The law was never meant to replace a relationship with him but was merely to guide mankind until the appointed time when God’s ultimate plan for the salvation of man could be put into place. That plan, Jesus, was now in place and God wanted nothing more than for his creation to see and understand the love he truly had for them. Let me once again make myself perfectly clear. Jesus’s ultimate responsibility was to become the necessary sacrifice to bridge the gap between a holy God and a sinful creation (mankind), so that God could once again have a personal relationship with the creation he loved so much. While Jesus’s sacrifice, as we will see, did bridge that gap and fulfill the law, it did not eliminate mankind’s responsibility to obey God’s commandments and follow his will for their life. No, Jesus is not a “get out of jail free” card, and I pity the soul who abuses what he did for them in that way. So while the intentions of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law may have been good in their eyes, they were missing out and directly causing others to miss out on the freedom Jesus offered to have an open and honest relationship with God the Father through Jesus the Son. We talked earlier that in order for Jesus to ensure his message not only was spread, but was also ed from generation to generation, he would need help. To this point, Jesus had gained numerous disciples who were learning from his teachings and following his word. What Jesus needed now were individuals who were not only able, but also willing to spread his message and teach the things they had been taught. One day Jesus went out to the mountainside alone to pray. He spent the night praying to God, and in the morning he called his

disciples to him. Jesus chose twelve of his disciples to be the ones to help him spread his message and teach what they had been taught. These disciples were Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot who became a traitor. We will talk about Judas Iscariot a little later, but don’t think for a minute Jesus didn’t know what was going to unfold and accepted it as part of God’s plan. Anyway, these twelve disciples became the apostles of Jesus. What is the difference you say between a disciple and an apostle? Good question, I would answer. A disciple can be defined as a student or follower, one who learns from a teacher. An apostle is one who is sent to deliver those teachings to others, a messenger if you will. The two are often intermingled with each other mostly because both are students learning from a teacher, and both can and often do share what they have been taught to others. Every believer in Jesus is a disciple and should act as an apostle and share their knowledge to those who need it. I know it sounds like a big responsibility, and it is only in the sense that the message is important, but it really isn’t because sharing the salvation message of Jesus should be second nature to those who truly believe. Yeah, but I am not a good public speaker. Yeah, but I do not have all the answers. Yeah, but what if they don’t want to listen or worse yet, cuss me out. Yeah but, yeah but, yeah but… I get all the yeah buts, but (like how I did that?), what is the alternative? People will die and people will spend an eternity in constant torment outside the presence of God if we do not share the truth with them. Who do you suppose will be held able for those souls, who are at bare minimum inside our sphere of influence, if we do not at least make an attempt to share the good news? No, we cannot force someone to believe or even accept the concept of God, but we can share the good news and how it has impacted our lives. That is all we are called to do. Plant the seed and allow God to water it, cultivate it, and hopefully watch it grow. After Jesus had chosen his twelve apostles, he spoke directly to them as well as to his other disciples (which include us), and offered them a blessing and a warning. Jesus said, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your joy in Heaven.

For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.” Wow, is that the blessing or the warning, you ask? Before we sit down at the table and chew on that, let’s see what else Jesus had to tell his disciples and us. Jesus is speaking, “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.” Okay, then there is that. Let me start by addressing the first part of Jesus’s speech. I believe what Jesus is telling us is that regardless of the trials and tribulations we face while living on this earth, as long as we keep our faith and trust in God the Father, through our belief in Jesus his son, our reward will be waiting for us in Heaven. It has been my experience that it is much easier to have faith and believe when times are difficult. I believe when we as human beings realize that we are not in control of everything in our lives, it becomes much easier to rely on and have faith to believe in God. When you take the self out of the equation, God becomes much more important and real. On the other hand, when you begin to rely on self, you tend to put God on the back burner until he is all but forgotten. If you live your life in such a manner while here on earth, Jesus says you will have reaped your reward, and your eternity will be bleak. Ultimately, Jesus is not telling us that we have to be poor, hungry, and miserable souls here on earth to make it to Heaven. Nor is he saying that if we are well off and have plenty to eat and are happy souls, we cannot make it to Heaven. Jesus wants us all to to give glory and honor to God the Father for all that we have and to rely and trust in Him for the things that we do not. Do not allow self to replace your reliance on God, and always trust and honor Him with your life. Jesus also revealed that persecution of the Christian believer is not something new. It started before the Christian religion was even recognized. While Jesus was alive and walking this earth, he tells us in no uncertain that people will hate us just because we believe in him. Jesus proceeds to tell us that this is not a bad thing and that we should not fear it, but rejoice in that day because this is the same way people treated the prophets of old. Why do you suppose people hated the prophets of old, and now they are hating Jesus and anyone who believes in him? I think the simple answer to that is people do not want to be held able and told they are doing something

wrong. Throughout history, mankind’s free will has created an environment of individuality, and the concept of universal truths has been deemed an evil ideology with no place in society. God created universal truths based on the righteousness and holiness he required. Mankind’s free will has bastardized, yes, I said bastardized, God’s perfect society creating a cesspool of ideologies where what is right and wrong is determined by the individual. Who cares what the God of the universe says? I will do what I feel is right for me. That mentality is generated straight from the pit of hell created by the father of lies himself, and mankind is so blinded they cannot even see it. Satan has masterfully forged an army of individuals marching straight toward the pit of hell. The irony in this is they all think they are making their own decisions for what is right for them, and they do not recognize they are being manipulated by the master deceiver and are doomed to an eternity outside of God’s presence. So I ask you again. What alternative do we have? Tell those who are on that path to hell the good news, or sit back and watch them slide down that slippery slope, keeping the answer to ourselves? I think you know what we have to do. The book of Luke is full of parables and short stories that Jesus uses to teach a specific truth or demonstrate a way to deal with and handle certain situations. Luke is also chock-full of straight-up commandments he directly gives us to guide us and show us how to live our life here on earth so that one day we may reap our reward in Heaven. More than that, and I believe Jesus’s real intention, if we follow his commandments and examples, our life will be an example to those who are lost. If we demonstrate God’s love as Jesus demonstrated, we will be an influence on a lost and dying world from generation to generation until his return and we are all united in Heaven. After all, this was God’s plan from the beginning so it only makes sense that we are part of it while we have been given the opportunity here on earth. Sounds simple enough, huh? Well, not all of what Jesus said was simple, and it certainly is not easy. My prayer is that you will stick with me as we continue to discuss the life of Jesus and the things he said as it directly affects how we live and the responsibilities we have as believers. I wish it was as simple as, yes, I believe Jesus was the Son of God and he died a sacrificial death in my place so that my sins are forgiven, and I can now enter Heaven and spend an eternity in God’s presence. In essence, it is because that simple statement is enough and all God requires to forgive us and allow us entry in to his presence. But in reality, living a life pleasing to God by following Jesus’s example can be quite difficult

in this messed-up world we currently live in. Truth be known, it has been a difficult row to hoe following Jesus from the very beginning. This is because of the fact that the evil one has and will continue to do everything in his power to cause chaos in our lives and the lives of fellow believers in an attempt to distract us from God’s calling for us. This is why I pray that you continue to stay with me on our journey learning about Jesus, so we can learn and gain knowledge about how to live a life pleasing to God by following Jesus in these ever-growing dark times. One of the most difficult portions of scripture to read and even more difficult to live is where Jesus tells us to love our enemies. Jesus starts out by saying, “But I tell you who hear me: let’s stop here for just a second.” Why do you suppose Jesus started his teaching in this manner? Obviously, he would have been speaking loud enough for those around him to hear what he had to say, so I do not believe this statement was a literal one. I believe Jesus made this statement because he knew some who were going to hear would not listen to what he had to say even though they heard it. Jesus knew that not all who hear his commandments will accept them and follow them. To hear and not follow is not good decision-making, in my opinion, since Jesus is providing us the road map straight to Heaven. It is like having a GPS with Heaven listed as your home button. Please do not be one of those who hear what Jesus has to say but then does not do it. Better buckle up because it is about to get real. Jesus says, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Wow. Let me say that again, wow. I know, right? How in the world or, should I say, why in the world would Jesus tell us to act in such a manner? The answer, while somewhat veiled, is actually quite simple. What Jesus is telling us to do is directly opposite to what any of us would want to do. I know for a fact that if someone struck me, the Tasmanian devil is coming out to play. But do you see? Jesus is trying to teach us to die to self-crucify our flesh so that we can see the world through his eyes. One of the hardest things for a believer to do is deny ourselves so that we can become an empty vessel to be used by God. We all want

to hold tight to our flesh, which binds our ability to let our spirit be free and serve our heavenly Father to the extent he truly wishes we would. The vast majority of Jesus’s teachings are showing us how to be servants and not seek to be served. Why is this so important, you ask? Let’s continue with Jesus’s teachings and you will soon see. Jesus continues, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the MostHigh, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your father is merciful.” God wants us to be set apart from the normal and be examples of his love to mankind. The old saying that you catch more flies with honey than you do vinegar fits pretty well here. If we act like sinners, then what difference will they see in us, and why would they even want to listen to us if all they see is themselves when they see us? We must be different and conduct ourselves differently than the world expects in order to demonstrate God’s love, so we can impact the sinner in a way they would not expect. Please take a minute and meditate on something for me. We, as believers in Jesus Christ and the God of the universe, are the only examples of who God is and the sacrifice Jesus made to a lost and dying world. What kind of example are they seeing in us? With that freshly in your mind, hang on ’cause it is about to get a little hot in the kitchen. Jesus continues his teaching by telling us, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Press the pause button for a minute, and let’s make sure we are on the same page. This portion of scripture is so easily read over because many think it to be all good news. I would suggest you read it again and make sure you fully understand it. Each commandment is very straightforward with a command and a result of the command if followed. What happens if you do not follow each of the commandments? Notice what I said? These are commandments from Jesus

to all of us as believers. They are not recommendations or preferred actions. Let me be more direct. If we as believers judge someone, we will be judged by God. the old saying “If you point a finger at someone in judgment, you better look at the three fingers pointing back at you.” If we as believers condemn someone, we will be condemned by God. If we as believers do not forgive someone, we as believers will not be forgiven by God. If we as believers do not give, we will not be blessed by God. Finally, Jesus tells us the measure we use will be measured to us. In other words, the amount of judgment, condemnation, forgiveness, and giving we use on others, we will reap from God the Father. It’s not over yet. The heat is about to get turned up a few more degrees. Jesus tells us this parable, “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they both not fall into the pit? A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Ouch. I say again, ouch. Why is this so difficult, you ask? It is not, I answer. I heard it said today that boundaries, in fact, give us freedom. While this doesn’t seem plausible, at least in the eyes of the world, it is actually a truth straight from God. When we understand and act within the boundaries God has set before us, we do not have to fear the unknown that exists beyond those boundaries. Within those boundaries, we are free to live our lives in the peace and contentment of knowing we are under God’s protection and love. It is when we venture outside the boundaries God has established that we face the dangers this world has in store for us without the confidence of God having our back. Of course, we are not immune to the trials and tribulations that come our way regardless, but you can trust me with your firstborn, those trials and tribulations are conquered much easier with God on our side. Let’s back up a few lines and dissect the last bit of Jesus’s teaching. I think what Jesus is trying to tell us here is to humble ourselves. Do not try and be something we are not, and do not pretend to have knowledge in areas where we do not. It has been said that a little knowledge can be dangerous. This is ever so relevant in Jesus’s statement about the blind leading the blind. Do not attempt to lead someone who is lost if you do not know the way yourself. This will only lead to

confusion and an ultimate disaster for you both. Gain knowledge so that you are able to lead those who are lost. Jesus also warns us that a student is not above their teacher; however, one who is fully trained will be like their teacher. In other words, live and learn with humility, and someday you will glean the complete knowledge of your teacher and be able to teach a student yourself. Who is your teacher? The greatest teacher of all when it comes to matters of God is none other than Jesus himself. To act as if you are above Jesus is not at all a wise choice. Finally, Jesus cautions us to take care of issues we have in our own life before we try and take care of issues in the lives of others. After all, no one likes a know-it-all, especially if that person knows the know-it-all and knows that the know-it-all has issues too. Once again Jesus wants us to humble ourselves before God and allow God to take care of the issues we have in our lives so that we, in turn, can help take care of others out of love, not out of pride and ignorance. Before we put this to bed, I want to take a side trail and touch on one other minor question that is raised in this portion of teaching. Jesus tells us that before we can remove the speck from our brother’s eye, we must remove the plank from our own. But who is our brother (or sister)? Do you think Jesus was literally referring to a family member? I think not. I think since we are all creations (mankind) from the one true God, we are all brothers and sisters. With that in mind, when we see someone who is hurting or in need, it is up to us to offer help and encouragement. Again, not out of self-righteousness or pride, but out of the love and knowledge we have been blessed with. In order to do that, we have to be in the right place in our own lives so that our offerings are accepted in the heart in which they are given. How do we know if we are where we are supposed to be in our relationship with God? After all, we are often our own worst enemies when it comes to seeing our own faults. Jesus gives us a pretty reliable predictor of where we are and how we are doing in his parable of the tree and the fruit. Jesus tells us, “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. Yikes, he did it again. Why is it that Jesus is always hitting us where it hurts? It is because he loves us, and we cannot deny the truth no matter how hard we try

and justify it. The simplicity of God’s truth is often overwhelming to those who are always trying to figure it out. Here is the question. What is stored up inside of your heart? Goodness or evil? Forgiveness or judgment? Mercy or condemnation? Knowledge or ignorance? Wisdom or stupidity? It doesn’t matter what others think about you or even how well you think you hide things within yourself; there are two reasons denial will never prevail. First, God knows regardless, so why even try and hide it? And second, Jesus just told us that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. You cannot, nor will God allow you to harbor negativity in your heart without its presence eventually becoming known. The truth be known, the majority of us battle with a combination of all those concepts listed above. None are perfect—no, not one— save for Jesus. However, just because we are not perfect, that does not give us the right or the excuse not to pursue perfection. Jesus is our example, and in his example we must strive. Therefore, we must control our stinking thinking and be aware when negativity is the by-product of our daily living. I think we can all agree that each of the concepts listed above have a positive and a negative connotation. A good and evil, if you will, in the spiritual sense. When negativity manifests itself externally from our beings through our speech, attitude, and actions (our flesh), you can bet the ranch we have negativity within our inner being (our spirit). If that negativity is allowed to fester, we are in danger of slipping outside God’s sphere of protection and into Satan’s waiting arms. So take a good strong whiff of your spirit. Does it stink? If so, you better get on your knees and get yourself right with God. How do we do that, you ask? We can start by making sure our foundational truths are laid on a solid foundation. Jesus tells us, “As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.” Once again Jesus makes it perfectly clear, it is not enough to simply hear his words, but we must put them into practice. In other words, we must live our lives in the manner in which he has demonstrated to us. The foundation on which we build our lives is his word. To build a house or life that will stand the test of time and the torrents we will face, we must start with a solid foundation. A lot of people, especially in this microwave society we live in, want instant results with minimal effort. This is why I have taken so much time to establish the background of God’s creation and God’s plan for mankind so that you will have the foundational knowledge to

ensure you start building your house on the solid foundation of God’s word. There are no shortcuts. Have you ever seen someone build a house and start with the roof? Let me tell you what Jesus says about that. Jesus says, “But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.” Outwardly both houses look very much the same. When the torrents of life strike, it is how they are built that make the difference. What is the foundation of your house built on? The solid principles of God’s word, or the promised principles of this world? I cannot promise you many things in your life, but what I can promise you is that if your life is built on the solid principles of God’s word there is no storm, not even one straight from the pit of hell, that can destroy you. You will not collapse in the torrent because God himself is holding you, rooted firmly in his promises. Interestingly enough, with that foundational knowledge, fear will not have such a stronghold in your life as it once had. Before you all take that “pursuing perfection” statement I made earlier to heart, I want to make sure we all understand a few things. Jesus does not expect you to be perfect in order to go to him. As a matter of fact, he knows that you will not be, and he is completely okay with it. He wants you to go to him as you are, broken and hurting. After all, if you have never been broken, how are you expected to know what it feels like to be whole? And if you have never been hurting, how are you expected to know what it feels like to be well? Oftentimes, we pursue perfection, and it becomes our goal instead of our goal being a relationship with God through his son, Jesus. When we do this and fall, which we all fall, it becomes a failure to us. And when we fail time and time again, which we will, we tend to want to stop trying. Once again, it is because we have locked in on pursuing perfection instead of a relationship. I have heard it said, the only difference between a sinner and a saint is that when a saint falls down, they get up. A sinner on the other hand will stay down wallowing in their self-pity and misery. There are only two things that will keep you from your ultimate goal of a relationship with God through his son, Jesus. First is if you never get up when you fall, and second is if you stop moving forward toward the goal of a relationship. Staying stagnant is just as bad as staying down wallowing in your self-pity and misery. I am sure you have heard the old saying, a rolling stone gathers no moss. It is the same for a practicing

Christian in a sense. A moving Christian makes a much more difficult target for Satan to get his hands on. If you lay in your misery and self-pity or if you stand still and are stagnant in your pursuit of a relationship with God, you are a prime target for Satan’s clutches. Using Jesus as your example, always move forward toward your goal of a relationship with God. Never stop striving for perfection in that example that Jesus gives us; just don’t make perfection your goal. Contrary to what the myriad of self-help books may tell us, we are nothing without Jesus, and no amount of self-motivation will ever bridge that gap that exists between a holy God and a sinful mankind, save the only perfect one, Jesus. Let’s dig just a bit deeper in this topic before we move on. I just can’t help but feel that there are many out there who feel or have felt the same way I have at times. That I am just not good enough to go to Jesus, or I have just messed up too many times to be forgiven. Trust me when I say, if you have ever felt this way or are currently feeling this way, you are not alone. The Bible tells us a story that gives us a way to overcome this with two simple words—faith and humility. Jesus was in Capernaum when word came to him that a servant of a centurion was sick and about to die. For those of you who do not know, a centurion was a commander of one hundred men in the Roman army. The Romans occupied the Jewish land and were obviously not in good standing with the majority of the Jewish nation. The centurion had heard of Jesus, so he sent some Jewish elders to Jesus, asking that Jesus heal his servant. The elders explained to Jesus that the centurion was a good man who loved the Jewish nation and even built their synagogue, so Jesus went with them. Jesus was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard the words of the centurion, he was amazed at him. Turning to the crowd that was following him, Jesus said, “I tell you I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” When the man who was sent returned to the house of the centurion, the servant was well. This story gives us a perfect insight to the love God has for all mankind and the simplicity required to receive that love. We have talked about faith on our journey, but let me throw you a curveball about

faith. Well, faith is not necessarily the issue I want to address, but more our assumptions that come with faith. Let me just say that faith without humility is not enough. Before we tackle the rest of this, or you tackle me, let’s look back at the centurion. The Bible tells us that the centurion had heard about Jesus. Obviously, the word of the miracles Jesus had been performing had reached the house of the centurion, and he believed. He recognized Jesus as Lord and had faith that Jesus could heal his servant. But the centurion did more than have simple faith; he humbled himself and realized he was not worthy to be in the presence of Jesus. He felt this way because of who he was and the responsibilities he had. He believed he did not deserve to have Jesus answer his request but had faith that he could. I think humility sometimes gets lost in this modern-day entitlement philosophy that is floating around. It is not just a philosophy that is in the world, but it has also infiltrated the church and the minds of the believers. To assume that having faith always entitles you to have your prayers answered is wishful thinking at best and even a more dangerous philosophy. We are not entitled to anything. It is only by the grace of God and his love for us that mankind has not long been destroyed. We must never forget to humble ourselves before God and acknowledge that we are not worthy but still believe and trust that God can do all the things he said he could do, which includes answering our prayers. I hope this is making sense and is not confusing. Just , none of us are worthy, but because of the love God has for us, he is more than willing to answer our prayers according to his will. Just don’t take that love for granted and feel like you deserve your prayer to be answered because you simply ask. Is there life after physical death? Wow, you ask, where in the world did that come from? Think about it for a minute. Isn’t that question at the very heart of our faith? If we believe in God and his plan for salvation, after our physical death, our spirit will live with God for all eternity in heaven, right? So why is there doubt? Come on, be honest. There have been times in your life that you question what happens after you die. I have and I consider myself a foundationally solid believer. I think sometimes we, as human beings, like tangible proof to our intangible faith. A confirmation bias if you will. Lucky for everyone, I have just what the doctor ordered. The Bible has many stories of Jesus raising people from the dead, and since we are working through the book of Luke, I will share a couple of them from Luke. What does raising someone from the dead have to do with proving there is life

after physical death? Let’s find out. The Bible tells us Jesus and his disciples, along with a large crowd of people, approached the small town of Nain, and they observed a dead person being carried out of the city. This was the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. There was also a large crowd from the town with her, and when Jesus saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” Jesus went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stopped. Jesus said, “Young man, I say to you, get up.” The dead man sat up and began to talk. Jesus gave him back to his mother. They were all filled with wonder and praised God. Another incident involved the daughter of a man named Jairus, who was a leader in the synagogue. Jairus came and fell at Jesus’s feet, begging him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. While on the way, someone from Jairus’s house came and told Jairus that his daughter was dead and not to bother the teacher anymore. Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just believe, and she will be healed.” When they arrived at the home of Jairus, Jesus would not let anyone go in except Peter, John, and James, as well as the girl’s mother and father. Meanwhile, all the people who gathered were wailing and mourning for her. Jesus said, “Stop wailing. She is not dead but asleep.” They laughed at him, knowing she was dead. But Jesus took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up.” Her spirit returned and at once she stood up. This is where the naysayers speak up and say, “They were not really dead. Medical science was not advanced enough back then to determine if they were actually dead.” My answer to that would be hogwash! People knew when people were dead, but to appease the doubter, let me give you one more example. Our third example is the story of the death of Lazarus. It is quite lengthy but very important to our discussion on life after physical death. I will paraphrase, however, in an attempt to save time. The story can be found in the book of John, chapter 11, for those of you who want to read it in its entirety. The Bible tells us that a man named Lazarus was sick. Lazarus was the brother of Mary, the one who had anointed Jesus with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair (which we will get to in just a little while). Mary and her sister Martha sent word to Jesus that Lazarus, the one he loved, was sick. Upon hearing the news, Jesus stayed where he was for two more days before heading to Bethany, the town in which Lazarus lived. The obvious question here is why in the world would Jesus stay two more days before heading to Bethany? The answer is so very simple and will be revealed as

the story continues. What you have to is that Jesus did not even have to go to Bethany to heal Lazarus. how Jesus healed the centurion’s daughter? Let’s just say it is all in God’s plan. After the two days, Jesus told his disciples they were going to Bethany because Lazarus had died. Upon arriving in Bethany, Jesus was told that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. Martha went out to meet Jesus and spoke to him, saying if he had been there her brother would not have died. Jesus told Martha that her brother will rise again, which she acknowledged that in the resurrection of the last days she would see her brother again because she believed. Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die, and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” Hmmm. Sounds pretty much like life after physical death to me. When Jesus observed all who were weeping over the death of Lazarus, he was deeply moved and asked them where they had laid him. Standing outside of the tomb, which was a cave with a stone rolled in front of it, Jesus wept. Yes, you read that right. The Son of the Living God and Savior of all mankind wept. This is probably the most perfect example as to why God chose the plan he did for our Savior. At that moment, Jesus fully understood what it was like to be human and felt the pain of loss so deeply that he wept. God’s plan to understand the heart of man took a giant leap forward because of this incident. As Jesus stood before the tomb, he commanded that the stone be taken away. Martha advised that there must be a great odor by this time since Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days, but Jesus had already told Martha that if she believed, she would see the glory of God. So they took the stone away, and Jesus looked up thanking God for hearing him. Jesus made the statement that he always knows God hears him but made the verbal announcement so those standing there would know God sent him. In a loud voice Jesus called, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out. His hands, feet, and face wrapped in linen. Jesus told those near him to take off the grave clothes and set him free. Need I even have to explain anymore? Maybe just a little? Okay then, let’s dive in. In all three of these examples, Jesus obviously had comion for those who had lost a loved one to a physical death. There was no doubt physical death had come to the young man, the young girl, and to Lazarus. We learned early on in God’s creation story, or should I say mankind’s disobedience failure, that physical death entered the world because of mankind’s sin. Even though it was not part of

God’s original plan for mankind, physical death became part of mankind’s punishment for their disobedience to God. We also learned that mankind’s physical body was not alive until God breathed life into the physical body giving it a spirit. We now have learned that Jesus has authority over death in that he has authority over the spirit that lives within the physical body. In these examples we read about, Jesus commanded the physical body of the young girl, the young man, and Lazarus to get up and they obeyed. But how did this happen? Their physical bodies were dead. They had no life in them. The answer lies in the life force that exists in all human beings, and that, my friends, is our spirit. We see in the story of Jairus’s daughter, that after Jesus commander her to get up, her spirit returned and at once she stood up. If that doesn’t give you goose bumps, then you better check your goose bump maker ’cause something is broke. Obviously, this confirms it is our spirit that gives life to our physical body, just as it was in the beginning when we learned of God’s creation of man. But there is a much greater truth present in this story. Before we get there, I have a question for you to ponder. Where did the spirit of Jairus’s daughter go? In order to return, it had to have gone somewhere. It did not suffer the same fate as the physical body because it was still alive in the sense that it still was a living presence. It was not the lifeless physical body that Jesus was talking to when he commanded it to get up, but the living spirit that had left the physical body. Yes, God (Jesus) does heal the physical body of sicknesses and diseases, but without the spirit, there can be no life. So how does all of this relate to and prove there is life after physical death? I am glad you asked, and the answer is simple. Our spirit, our life force if you will, is eternal. It will live on after our physical bodies die. The only question remaining is where? Will we live on in the presence of our heavenly Father spending all eternity in the magnificence of Heaven, or forever being tormented outside of the presence of our heavenly Father with the evil one? If none of this has convinced you that there is life after physical death, take one more look at what Jesus told Martha. John chapter 11 verses 25 and 26, verse 25: “Jesus said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.’” Verse 26: “And whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” Do you believe this? It truly is that simple. The choice is yours, my friend, and we will address that in more detail later on in our journey.

Well, that’s it then. The good news all wrapped up in a few paragraphs. The end. Just kidding. While it is true about being the good news, there is so much more to learn about Jesus and how this knowledge will help us live our lives until the day of Jesus’s return or our physical bodies die and our spirit ventures on. Wait, what is that you say? Jesus’s return? You see, we have so much more to learn on our journey. It is one thing to know the answer to the question, but it is entirely a different story when you have the knowledge and know the process of how to get the answer to the question. Knowledge provides you with the steadfastness you will need to maintain your faith in the midst of the ever-increasing chaos and evil running rampant on this earth. The answer is simple. Believe in Jesus, and we will live even though we die; by believing in him we will never die. Is that enough? Yes, but how do you deal with the trials and tribulations you will face in your life and not lose your faith and your belief? Even more importantly, how do you share the good news about Jesus with a lost and dying world without knowledge? I believe God wants us to learn the truths Jesus presented while he ministered on earth to not only help us make it to the end of our journey and maintain our faith, but to also have the answers for the lost and dying souls we encounter along the way. It sorta reminds me of the parent who always answers their child with a “because I said so” answer. The parent may very well know all the answers, but does the child ever learn and gain knowledge with answers like that, or would they learn and gain knowledge if things were explained and life lessons taught? We have already established the fact that it is our responsibility to share the good news of Jesus to those who are lost and hurting, so it only makes sense to learn all we can about Jesus, so we have answers to the questions that will arise. I said all of that to tell you we have a bit more of our journey together. So get another cup of coffee, sit back. and enjoy the ride. Besides, I am not ready for this to be over. I am really starting to like you all. The story of Lazarus, which we just talked about, is somewhat chronologically out of order from our journey through the book of Luke, so with that being said, I would like to digress a bit and now tell you the story of Mary. Jesus had been invited to the house of a Pharisee to have dinner. A woman (Mary) in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she went carrying an alabaster jar of perfume. She stood behind Jesus at his feet, weeping. She began wetting his feet with her tears. As she wiped his feet with her hair, she kissed them and then poured the perfume on them. When Simon, the Pharisee who had invited Jesus to dinner, saw this, he said to himself, “If this

man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and the kind of woman she is—a sinner.” Jesus responded to Simon, saying, “I have something to tell you. Two people owed money to a money lender. One owed five hundred denarii and the other owed fifty. Neither of them had money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Which of them will love him more?” Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt.” Jesus said, “You have judged correctly.” He then proceeded to tell Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house, and you did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but this woman poured perfume on my feet. I tell you, her many sins are forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever is forgiven little loves little.” Woah! As I have said before, Jesus holds no punches when he speaks the truth. He has made an astounding observation and accusation that we as believers need to hear and understand even if we don’t want to. Jesus’s observation is very clear and easily seen by the actions of Mary in the presence of Jesus. Her multitude of sins had held her bondage, and the pain she felt in her spirit was debilitating. Her belief and repentance were obvious in her actions, even if they were not audible with her mouth. Jesus knew her heart, and because of her humbled repentance Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” And because of her undeniable belief, Jesus said to her, “Your faith has saved you, go in peace.” Jesus, in this encounter with a sinful woman, gave us the mathematic equation for salvation. Repentance + Faith = Salvation. If you get nothing else from this story, please this. It takes both repentance and faith to receive the promised salvation God promised. You can seek repentance for your sin, but if you do not believe by faith that Jesus was the Son of God, there can be no salvation. You can also have undeniable belief by faith that Jesus is the Son of God, but if you do not seek heartfelt repentance for your sins, there can be no salvation. I realize they appear to be almost interchangeable concepts, but let me assure you, repentance and faith are two separate necessary actions for salvation. I know, I know. I have struck a nerve, and several of you are screaming at the words on the page. You are saying, but what about John chapter 3 verse 16?

Probably the most famous verse in the Bible and the one most people can quote. Jesus is speaking and says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” There is no mention of repentance in that verse, so my statements above must be wrong, correct? I would respond and tell you, there are a multitude of scriptures commanding us to repent of our sins because repentance of sin is necessary for our salvation. I will share one of the scriptures with you in just a bit, but before that, this is a perfect opportunity to warn you of the dangers of basing your beliefs on a single scripture or two. The Bible contains a complete picture of God’s plan for mankind from beginning to end, and much can be gleaned from reading the entire Bible. It is extremely dangerous for a believer to cherry-pick scriptures to live their life on and not pay any attention to others or worse yet, completely ignore scriptures because they do not like what they say. Read, study, and learn the whole Bible, and the truths you discover will open your lives to the freedom and love God provides by living within the confines of his truths. Okay, back to the discussion on repentance. Luke chapter 13 verses 1–5. Verse 1: “Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.” Verse 2: “Jesus answered them, ‘Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?” Verse 3: “I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Verse 4: “Or those eighteen who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?” Verse 5: “I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too, will all perish.” Twice Jesus tells those around him, unless they repent, they will all perish. I do not think for a second he was referring to their physical death, but their spiritual death. By that I mean an eternity outside the presence of God the Father and Jesus the Son. We learn two very important truths from these scriptures. First, there is no doubt that repentance is necessary for salvation. And second, there is no scale ranking the severity of sin. To God, sin is sin regardless. Many people love to do the “I am not as bad as you” comparison to make themselves feel better. Here is a freebie: it does not matter how you feel about yourself but what God knows about your heart that determines your final destiny. Let’s get one thing straight before we go any further. Sin is simply disobedience to God’s moral law and his will. And before the excuses about not knowing

God’s moral law and will start flying, I will remind you of what I just said a minute ago. You will never know God’s law and will if you do not read the Bible and understand the heart of God. Every decision you make can be weighed and measured in two ways. Does this decision edify God and build the kingdom of heaven? Or does this decision cause separation between me and God? Every sin starts with a decision and from that decision an action. Practice intentionally making decisions that bring you one step closer to your final destination, an eternity with God. And when you mess up, do not hesitate to repent and ask God to forgive you. Yes, I said each time you mess up. There are some philosophies that believe once you have asked forgiveness, you do not need to ask again. My answer to that is, if you do something stupid and offend your spouse, do you apologize and ask forgiveness? If you want a peaceful home, you bet you do. Men, if you continue to do stupid things, which we do, how many times are you going to apologize and ask forgiveness from your wife? Once? I sure hope not if you ever plan on sleeping in the same bed again. In all seriousness, Jesus gives us a warning about what happens when we fail to ask forgiveness. Look back with me to the story of Mary when Jesus, talking to the Pharisee, makes this statement: “I tell you, her many sins are forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever is forgiven little loves little.” I believe there is a direct correlation between having a repentant heart and having the ability to share the love of God. Think about it for a minute. When we humble ourselves in the name of Jesus, before God with a repentant heart and ask him to forgive us of the sins we have committed against him, what is his response? He not only takes our sin away, but also the pain of failure and fills us with an unconditional love and an unexplainable peace that only the God of the universe can do. It is this love that we share with a lost and dying world. Since God would never turn away someone who comes to him in the name of Jesus and with a repentant heart, it must be presumed then when Jesus warned whoever is forgiven little loves little, that they either seldom ask for forgiveness for their sins, they lack both faith in Jesus and a repentant heart, or by some miracle they are sinless. My guess would be one of the first two since there has been only one sinless human being to ever have existed, and he is the reason we all can be forgiven of our multitudes of sin. Regardless, for those who do not seek forgiveness with a repentant heart, they

are not forgiven and therefore do not have the unconditional love in their heart God so freely gives. It is no wonder that we live in a world full of hate and anger. And just so you know, there is no limit to the number of times God will forgive you if you ask, just as there is no limit to the amount of unconditional love and unexplainable peace he is willing to bestow on you. The only catch: share that love and peace with this lost and dying world when given the opportunity. Amen. Close the book and shut the door, the intensity is getting too much up in here. In all seriousness, everything we just talked about is really good news. Insightful and refreshing to some, hard to swallow for others, but all in all, very good news. After all, it sure beats the alternative of spending an eternity outside the presence of God. And besides, who doesn’t need a slice or two of humble pie now and again to keep them in check? With the craziness of daily life and the incessant subterfuges of Satan’s attempts to distract us, it is no wonder we find ourselves getting sucked in to the acceptance of the gradual this world so expertly portrays. From politics, to celebrity opinions, to social media explosions, we are subject to an astronomical volume of information, most of which are half-truths and probably closer to all out lies. We must draw the line in the sand. Did you hear me? We must draw the line in the sand and say enough is enough. Friends, please listen to me. This is not about who did what in government or Hollywood. This is about your eternal soul and where you are going to spend your eternity. I am not for one second telling you not to be informed, but what I am telling you is you better what your ground truth is. In any science experiment, there must be a ground truth to base all of your experiments on in order to determine what the data you collect actually means. A ground truth is something undeniable. There are no questions as to its authenticity and, well, its truth. The ground truth in your life and mine is that God created us. Mankind as a whole is sinful in nature, creating a chasm between a holy God and a sinful you and me, and God in his unconditional love for you and me created a way, through the death and resurrection of His Son, for you and I to live with him in heaven for all eternity. That’s the ground truth in a nutshell. We must not allow those distractions that exist in our lives to ever make us forget this. And when we do mess up, and we will, we must repent with a humble heart, in the name of Jesus, and ask God to forgive us. Before we go any further on our journey, it is time to unplug and refocus. We talked earlier about

how God made nature for our benefit so that we may be drawn closer to him and how much he truly loves us. I want us all to close the book, turn off our phones, and find a place of solitude, preferably in nature. Spend time talking to him. There are no magic words or phrases; simply talk to the father who created you, and spend time in his presence. Before you come back, make sure you spend time listening as well. Oftentimes we do a lot of talking and not much listening. Wait on the Lord in holy silence, and wait for that tug on your heart and that still small voice in your spirit. I will be here when you get back, and we can continue on. Welcome back. I hope everyone is feeling better. It is amazing how refocusing on that which is truly the most important in your life can rejuvenate the mind, body, and most importantly the soul. While we have journeyed far together during our adventure in the life of Jesus, quite honestly there are many, many more stories to be told. I believe, however, that we will start our descent to the end of our journey. And I would say, the end of Jesus’s life, but that would not be a true statement. You see, the end of Jesus’s life here on earth, well, it was only just the beginning. We will get there in just a bit, but I would like to take this time and encourage you all to read and study the rest of the stories about Jesus found in the Bible. Which books, you ask? The whole thing, I would answer. To truly understand the story of Jesus, you need to read the entire love story God created for us, which is the Bible. I promise, you will not be disappointed. For those of you who have never heard the Bible referred to as the living word, let me assure you there is no truer statement. Without sounding like a mystic or trying to convince you that an inanimate object, such as a book, can actually have power, let me put your mind at ease. It is not the book that is alive nor has any power, but the words given and inspired by the God of the universe that are living and powerful. They contain the power and authority promised by God and the inspiration to lead you through your earthly journey. The words contained within the Bible literally feel as if they are alive and penetrate your very being as if they know how you are feeling and can sense the troubles of your heart. I know this sounds crazy, but think for just a minute where these words came from. The creator of all things felt it important enough to inspire individuals over a few thousand years to document his words to tell his story so that it would not be forgotten yes, but more importantly, so that his most loved creation, mankind, could understand and discover the path that leads to him. How truly awesome is

that? So with that said, I strongly recommend, after you have finished my book of course, that you read the Bible from cover to cover. I do have one word of advice, well, maybe two. Pray before you read and ask God to allow his living word to reveal itself to you as you read. And number two, open your heart and mind to understand what is revealed. Do you how we started our journey together? How we went through the first three chapters of Genesis and just how much information we gleaned from them? The whole Bible is like this, so please pray and open your heart and mind to receive the blessings God will bestow on you as you read his glorious word. While I have at times along our journey together thus far been somewhat whimsical in my writing, I need to give you a disclaimer before we proceed. The remainder of our journey in the life of Christ will be very serious with periods of sadness, anger, disgust, and ultimately unbelievable joy. I do not apologize for the seriousness because it is a part of the story that must be told. After all, Jesus was born to complete the task that lay ahead as God ordained, even if it is a task none of us would ever willingly choose to complete. The beginning of the end of our journey starts with the triumphal entry of Jesus in to the city of Jerusalem. According to the book of Luke, chapter 19, verses 28–31, as Jesus and his disciples were approaching the villages of Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples on ahead. Jesus told them to go to the village ahead, and as they enter, there will be a colt tied there which no one has ever ridden. He told them if anyone asks, just tell them the Lord needs it. The disciples brought the colt to Jesus and placed their cloaks over the colt. They then put Jesus on the colt and continued on their journey to Jerusalem. While this may seem like an insignificant, nonimportant event in the broad scheme of the life of Jesus, let me assure you it is more important than it outwardly seems. Take a trip with me back in time, five hundred years, to the writings of the Old Testament prophet Zechariah. Specifically, Zechariah chapter 9, verse 9: “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Need I say more as to the importance of this event? Seriously, this is just one, of too many to count, prophecies that Jesus fulfilled hundreds of years after they were originally written about. Coincidence? Really? This is not the time or the place to debate, but as I said just a short while ago, read the Bible and discover these amazing things for yourself. It truly is nothing

short of miraculous. Let’s get back to our journey. Jesus and his disciples approached the road that leads down to the Mount of Olives, and all of the disciples began joyfully praising God in loud voices for all of the miracles they have seen saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.” Some of the Pharisees who were in the crowd asked Jesus to rebuke his disciples, but Jesus simply replied, “I tell you, if they keep quiet the stones will cry out.” Can you only imagine? Do you understand what Jesus was saying? This was the beginning of the end of Jesus’s earthly life, and the amount of emotion present could not be contained. The very rocks would have cried out praises to God for what was about to happen. The compilation of God’s plan for the salvation of mankind was being set into motion with Jesus’s entry in to Jerusalem. As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it. Jesus realized that the Jewish nation, God’s chosen people, did not recognize him for who he was— their messiah and the Savior of the world. Jesus made the following statements as he overlooked Jerusalem. Jesus is speaking, “If you, even you had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” Jesus was prophesying an event that would take place in less than forty years from the day he spoke those words. In 70 AD, the Roman empire would invade and destroy not only the city of Jerusalem, but the temple as well. Wow, if only the Jewish nation would have recognized who Jesus was, they may not have been driven from their homeland, and who knows how the future would have played out. It was no wonder Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem. When Jesus reached Jerusalem, he went to the temple and was not at all happy at what He found. Jesus found people buying and selling goods within the temple grounds, at which point a righteous anger welled within him, and he drove all of those who were buying and selling out of the temple, overturning the tables of the money changers. Jesus said, “It is written, my house will be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.” The chief priests, the religious leaders, and the leaders of the peoples all began to plot how they could not only have Jesus arrested, but also have him killed as well.

I would never allow the greatest story ever told to become a political debate, but I must address the dangers of allowing such ideals to penetrate the church and become the driving force behind it instead of proclaiming the good news and being servants to a lost and dying world. We see the hatred and misguidance every day in the secular world in the name of politics. The problem, just like many other secular ideals, has always been a tool of Satan to embed its ugly self in to the church in an effort to cause division and ultimately destruction within the church. This is not something new, and with many other aspects of human nature, we never seem to learn from the past mistakes that have been made. We are doomed to repeat these mistakes if we do not learn and prevent the same mistakes from occurring in the future. As it was in Jesus’s day, politics existed and had infiltrated the synagogue. In politics, as we know it in America, the power to stay in control comes from the of the people, which equates to votes. Therefore, it does not take a genius to understand misguidance, and oftentimes even straight-out lies are used in attempts to persuade the minds of the people. It was the same in Jesus’s day within the synagogue. The chief priests and religious leaders saw the influence Jesus had on the people, and they were afraid their influence would fail and that, ultimately, the power they possessed would diminish. Of course, they argued it was because Jesus was telling lies and being blasphemous in his teachings. The truth of the matter was that Jesus was telling the truth, which He gleaned straight out of the scrolls of the Old Testament and his knowledge of the heart of God. A truth the chief priests and religious leaders knew all too well, but chose not to believe because of their fear of losing power and control of the people. This was ever apparent in the book of Luke, chapter 20, verses 1–7 when the chief priests and the teachers of the law confronted Jesus as he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests and teachers of the law asked Jesus by what authority he was doing the things he was doing and who gave him that authority? Jesus simply replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me, John’s baptism— was it from heaven, or from men?” The chief priests and teachers of the law talked among themselves and decided if they say from heaven, Jesus will ask them why they didn’t believe him, and if they say from men, the people will stone them because they were convinced John was a prophet. They answered Jesus, “We do not know where it came from.” Jesus then said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing

these things.” Jesus gives us yet another example of how to confront evil. When you confront evil with truth, evil cannot stand. This, my friends, is how we must stand against the flood of evil that is running rampant in our world today. We must face it with the truth of God’s word and not fear the misguidance and outright lies that are thrown our way in attempts to persuade our minds to follow false prophets and servants of the evil one. We must continually be on guard against the cunning devices and evil schemes of Satan for even those close to Jesus were susceptible to him, thus is the fate of Judas Iscariot. If you , Judas Iscariot was one of the original twelve apostles chosen by Jesus. While Jesus and the apostles were in Jerusalem, the Feast of Unleavened Bread or better known as the over was approaching. The chief priests and teachers of the law were continually looking for a way to get rid of Jesus, and they would soon have the unlikeliest of allies. One of Jesus’s very own apostles, Judas Iscariot, allowed the lies of Satan to persuade him into betraying Jesus. Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard to discuss a way to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present. Judas knew that, each day, Jesus would teach in the temple, and he would spend each night on the hill called the Mount of Olives. The trap would be set there. The chief priests were delighted and agreed to give Judas thirty pieces of silver for his assistance. We seriously need to stop here for a minute and digest what was just written. One who walked closely with Jesus for three years and saw the multitude of miracles he performed. One who was taught the truths of God, from no other than the Son of the Living God, chose to betray him for money. Please understand how incredibly weak our flesh is when it comes to the temptations of Satan. If one who walked and talked with the Son of the Living God could be tempted, then so can we. I hope throughout our journey together you have learned how to recognize the schemes and devices used by Satan to cause separation between you and God and, more importantly, how to fight and defend yourself against them. On one hand, the thought of one of Jesus’s own apostles betraying him is very disheartening, but on the other, I am strengthened by the thought that we now have more than Judas had when we are faced with similar temptations today. We have the knowledge and understanding of how Satan has worked from the

beginning of creation to tempt, persuade, and even outright lie to us in attempts to draw us away from the holy God. We must, let me repeat that, we must not make the mistakes of the past and allow Satan a foothold in our lives. I have heard it said, the definition of a fool is someone who makes the same decisions over and over again expecting a different outcome. Don’t be a fool. The Feast of Unleavened Bread was upon them, and Jesus sent Peter and John to go make preparations for the over lamb to be sacrificed, so they could partake in the over meal together. When the time came, Jesus and the rest of the disciples ed Peter and John in a large upper room to observe the over. As they were reclined at the table, Jesus said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this over with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the Kingdom of God.” Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and giving it to them he said, “This is my body given for you, do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper, Jesus took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” It was at this table where the first Holy Communion took place. I do not think the disciples fully understood the magnitude of this moment, but I can assure you we are going to before we move on. Jesus was telling his apostles he was going to suffer, his body was going to be broken, and his blood was going to be spilled as part of the new covenant of God with mankind. God’s perfect plan for the salvation of mankind had been spelled out in front of them from the lips of the spotless sacrificial lamb himself, Jesus Christ. Holy Communion is not some trivial custom or tradition haphazardly performed so you can call yourself a good Christian. Holy Communion is just that, holy. A remembrance of what Jesus willingly did for us. This next statement is for those of us who profess Jesus as our Lord and Savior; nonbelievers or others reading this can plug your ears. If we, as believers, ever take Holy Communion and it doesn’t feel as if our hearts are being ripped from our chests, then I would question the sincerity in which we are taking communion or possibly even our commitment to Jesus. If contemplating what Jesus did for us does not penetrate to your very core, then I would suggest we need to look deep within ourselves and find out what has rooted itself in us that is preventing our true communion with Jesus. Okay. Unplug the ears and let’s get back to the over table. Jesus gave a warning to the disciples, advising them that one who sits at the table will betray him. Jesus said, “The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that

man who betrays him.” As you could imagine, this caused quite the stir among the apostles, who were trying to figure out who would betray Jesus. This of course turned in to an argument over who was the greatest among them. I would assume they were all trying to justify how great they were as to defend themselves from being the traitor. Jesus gave the apostles a quick lesson on humility, advising them that the greatest among them should be like the youngest and the one who rules like the one who serves. Jesus knew pride was a killer of servitude and humility, the characteristic necessary for serving. Jesus also specifically warned Simon Peter that Satan had asked to sift him as wheat, in other words, tempt his faith. Jesus told Simon Peter He had prayed for him that his faith would not fail and when he turns back, to strengthen his brothers. Basically, Jesus was telling Simon Peter his faith would fail, but he would come back, and when he did, he was to strengthen his brothers in Christ. Simon Peter boldly proclaimed he was willing to go to prison or even death for Jesus. Jesus answered Simon Peter, telling him before the rooster crows that day that he would deny knowing him three times. I would imagine that this struck Simon Peter as it would you or I. Many of us, including myself, have expressed our faith in Jesus with the same boldness as Simon Peter, even making the same statements that we would die for Jesus. My question to us all is, would we really? While martyrdom, the killing of someone for their beliefs, was common in the early days of Christianity, it is virtually nonexistent in the free society we call America. With that said, the martyrdom of Christians for their belief in Christ is ever existent in the world we live in. If you think I am making this up, please research it for yourself. Christians are being martyred throughout this world for nothing else than their belief in Jesus Christ as their savior. So I ask you again, and myself, would we really be willing to die for our beliefs in Jesus as the Son of the Most-High and our personal savior for salvation? That, my friends, is only a question each of us can answer. After partaking in the over meal Jesus went, as usual, to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed. Once they reached the Mount of Olives, Jesus said to the disciples, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation,” and then he retreated about a stone’s throw away and knelt down to pray. Jesus prayed to his father, God, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me. Yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from Heaven appeared before him and strengthened him. Being in anguish, Jesus prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. Do any of you all believe Jesus

wanted what was about to happen to him to actually happen? Of course he didn’t. He was scared. He was in so much anguish that his sweat was as blood dripping. Yet with all of that fear, he never once told God the Father he would not willingly do it. Yes, he asked the cup to be taken from him, but if and only if it was God’s will. He was ready and willing to follow through with whatever God’s will was for him because he knew the purpose. Can you even imagine what God the Father was going through at this moment? Yes, God created mankind and was deeply in love with his creation, but this was his one and only son crying out to him. God did send an angel to comfort Jesus, but that would be like you or I sending a friend to our child when they were crying out for help from us. Would any of us do that? I think not. I personally would move Heaven and hell to get to my child if they were crying out to me. I know this because there were a couple of times in my life where my wife and I did just that. While I do not understand it fully, I do understand how much God must truly love his creation, mankind, to allow his only son to go through what he was about to go through. When Jesus was done praying, he went back to his disciples and found them sleeping. He woke them, saying, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray so you will not fall into temptation.” Did you all catch that? Twice Jesus gives his disciples the answer for not falling into the temptations of the evil one. Prayer. Prayer is the answer. Answer me this. Is it possible to be tempted by Satan when you are truly plugged in and in full communion with God through prayer? , evil is exposed in the light and cannot remain in the presence of God. If you are truly in communion with God through prayer, I do not believe Satan is able to tempt you, and if he does try, his methods of temptation and deceit will be exposed by the light. No, I do not believe Jesus wants us to never sleep and be in a continual state of prayer because that would be impossible. What I believe Jesus was doing was preparing his disciples for what was about to come, so they would not waver in their faith and could continue to share the good news after he was gone. By the same token, it is ammunition for us, so we can expose the cunning deception of the evil one and not fall into temptation to sin against God. Prayer! Always keep your faith batteries charged by plugging into God through prayer. While Jesus was still speaking to them, a crowd was approaching them, and the man leading them was Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’s twelve apostles. Among the crowd were the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders of

the temple. Judas approached Jesus and was about to kiss him when Jesus said, “Judas, are you preparing to betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” As the crowd moved in to arrest Jesus, one of the disciples, drew a sword and cut off the ear of one of the servants of the high priest. I just love how the book of Matthew describes the series of events from here on. Matthew chapter 26, verses 52–54: “Jesus commanded the disciple, ‘Put your sword back in its place. For all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” The reason I like the way this event is presented in Matthew is because it shows with no uncertain certainty that Jesus always had a way out. He did not have to continue on with what was about to transpire, but he willingly chose to because he knew the scripture had to be fulfilled in the way it had been determined by God the Father. Jesus then reached out and touched the servant of the high priest and healed his ear. Jesus then addressed the crowd that had come, asking them, “Am I leading a rebellion that you have come with swords and clubs? Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour, when darkness reigns.” If you our journey through creation about how darkness was always likened to evil and the evil one, I believe Jesus was in not so subtle of a way, calling out the evil behind the actions being portrayed. It also hit home with me pertaining to my own walk with Jesus. How easy is it calling myself a Christian when walking around in the light and surrounding myself with other believers, but how difficult is it remaining a Christian when I allow myself to take trips through the darkness, allowing myself to be tempted by the evil that exists in that darkness? I think this is something we all need to address within our own selves. Are we the same people we present in the light and in the company of like believers, or do we allow ourselves to fall when we are by ourselves and begin slipping into that darkness? I am not asking or suggesting you beat yourself up over it, but simply recognize that God is the God of the light and the darkness. He sees what happens in the crowd of believers as well as in the darkness of our own hearts. But fear not, for he has prepared a way for forgiveness, and we are in the process of discovering it for some, and ing it for others. I would like to add a little suggestion of my own, which can be found in the book of me. I know I said I was going to be serious from here on out, but I couldn’t help it. It is who I am.

Anyway, my advice when faced with temptation is simple. Recognize it for what it is, an evil sent with one purpose, and that purpose is to cause separation between you and God. Once you have recognized it, turn and flee. And I mean run with every ounce of energy you can muster. While this situation may indeed require physical running, which is fine, the majority of this running will be straight into the arms of Jesus Christ, who is our intercessor with God the Father. Many of us feel like we are strong enough to face Satan and his temptations, and in some instances, we may have to, but why take the chance when God and his army of angels are on our side? My first step in any situation where I have been tempted has not always been toward Jesus and his open arms, and I can honestly say with a truthful heart I have failed 100 percent of the time when I have relied on my own strength to fight the temptations of the evil one. However, the good news is, when I have been tempted and have turned and ran to the waiting arms of Jesus, I can honestly say with a truthful heart that I have been 100 percent successful in fighting off the temptation with Jesus’s help, and came away with a stronger faith. The crowd then seized Jesus and took him to the house of Caiaphas, the high priest. Peter followed at a distance until the crowd entered the courtyard of the high priest’s house. They kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together. Peter entered and sat down with them. I know we have discussed the fact that Jesus told Peter he would deny him three times before the rooster crowed, but I wanted to give you the of the incident so that you can see Peter’s reaction. It may enlighten you as it has me. As Peter was sitting among the crowd, a servant girl noticed him in the firelight and said, “This man was with him.” But Peter denied it, saying, “Woman I don’t know him.” A short time later someone else saw him and said, “You are one of them.” Peter replied, “Man, I am not.” About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.” Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Just as Peter was speaking the rooster crowed. Jesus turned and looked at Peter, and Peter ed Jesus’s words: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” Peter then went outside and wept bitterly. Why? Just like with the betrayal of Judas, why would someone who walked with the Son of God, and saw his miraculous power, deny him? That question lingered in my mind for a very long time. I had come to the conclusion that if his very own apostles could betray and deny Jesus, then how could I ever possibly be confident that my faith could stand the test when I was confronted? It seemed an impossible task. Would my own self-preservation kick in and in fear deny believing in Jesus or, worse yet, betray him by willingly sinning against him? Now, before one of you reading this, puff out your chest and declare you would never deny or betray Jesus; just what we just talked about. Two of his apostles—one of which Jesus declared that upon this rock, Peter, he would build his church—just did those very things. What makes us any better? That is a good question, and I have an answer that hopefully will give you the same enlightenment it did me. Neither Judas nor Peter at the time had the one thing you and I have today. That, my friends, is knowledge. We have the knowledge of the end of the story. Well, we haven’t quite gotten there yet on our journey together, but let me assure you we will, and you too will fully understand. The answer is very simple. The Bible tells us in Philippians chapter 1 verse 21: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. As we are alive, we continue to share the good news of the salvation power of Jesus and when we die, we gain ission to Heaven and are blessed to spend an eternity in the presence of our creator, God.” If we can overcome the fear of death with this knowledge, then what else is there? No fear we face here on earth should ever cause us to betray or deny our Lord and Savior Jesus because through faith, we know that even in death, we are going to be okay. More than okay, we are going to be in heaven. I know there are some people, including myself, whose biggest fear is death. Not necessarily because we do not know where we will end up, but because we do not want to leave our loved ones. The fear of missing them causes us to fear death. My recommendation to you and to me would be to live each day as the blessing God has given us, loving those most important to us, and more importantly, sharing the good news of the saving grace of Jesus. After all, physical death is imminent, and if we truly want to see our loved ones again, we must be sure they know the way after we are gone. We will see our loved ones again in the gloriousness of Heaven. This I can promise because it does not come from me, but from the

inspired holy word of God, so I say fear not, not even death. Jesus was led before the chief priest, Caiaphas, and the rest of the Sanhedrin, which included the chief priests and teachers of the law. From early on is Jesus’s ministry, the Sanhedrin had been trying to devise a way to get rid of Jesus. It had gotten to the point that they no longer just wanted to get rid of Jesus, but they wanted him dead too. Many witnesses presented false testimony about Jesus to the Sanhedrin, most of which I am sure were directly influenced by or even ordered by of the Sanhedrin. Two such witnesses testified that Jesus bragged about him destroying the temple of God and then rebuilding it in three days. Jesus was actually referring to the death of his physical body and his subsequent resurrection three days later (hold that thought), but because of their blindness, they did not recognize it. The assembled Sanhedrin asked Jesus, “If you are the Christ. Tell us.” Jesus answered them, “If I tell you, you will not believe me, and if I ask, you will not answer. But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the Mighty God.” Then Caiaphas stood and asked, “Are you then the Christ, the Son of God?” Jesus replied, “You are right in saying I am.” Caiaphas tore his clothes, and the Sanhedrin decided they did not need to question Jesus anymore, since he had itted to what in their opinion was blasphemy. It was their decision that Jesus deserved to die. Some of those present began spitting on Jesus. They blindfolded him and then began striking him with their fists, saying, “Prophesy! Tell us who hit you?” The guards watching Jesus also began to beat him. The whole assembly rose and took Jesus before Pilate, the Roman governor over Judea at the time. The reason the Sanhedrin took Jesus before Pilate was because they could not, by their law, impose a death sentence. They made up lies accusing Jesus of subverting the people. They told Pilate that Jesus opposed paying taxes to Caesar and that Jesus proclaimed to be Christ, a king. They did all of this, for they wanted Pilate to put Jesus to death. Pilate addressed Jesus, asking him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Yes, it is as you say.”

Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd that he found no basis for a charge against this man. But they all insisted Jesus was stirring up people all over Judea. It was customary during the over Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested. The crowd asked Pilate to honor this tradition by releasing Barabbas, a convicted murderer Pilate questioned the crowd and asked if they would rather he release Jesus to them? The of the Sanhedrin had been working the crowd in to a frenzy, giving false s of Jesus and influencing them for Pilate to release Barabbas. The crowd emphatically responded, “Give us Barabbas.” Pilate, knowing the Sanhedrin had given Jesus over to him out of envy, asked the crowd what he should do with Jesus then? Their reply was “Crucify him!” Pilate, not wanting to crucify an innocent man, asked, “Why? What crime has he committed?” The only response from the frenzied crowd was “Crucify him!” In front of the crowd, Pilate took water and washed his hands, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood, it is your responsibility.” The crowd, in its ignorant glory, answered, “Let his blood be on us and on our children.” Just like that, the sinless, innocent Son of the Most-High God was convicted of death based on the deceit and outright lies of the so-called religious leaders of his day. I am not the smartest man in the world, but if there is one thing I am certain about, it would be that I certainly would not want the blood of the Son of God on my hands. Covering my sins, yes, but I surely would not want to be responsible for his death, even though it was destined by the Father. Pilate then released Barabbas to them and ordered Jesus to be flogged and then crucified. There are a couple of things I want to talk about before we get to the horrific death of Jesus by what some may call the most barbaric way to torture someone literally to death, crucifixion. First, I am sure some of you, or at least the ones who do not know, want to know what happened to Judas Iscariot after he betrayed Jesus. The book of Matthew, chapter 27, gives us the of what happened to Judas. Judas was there and witnessed all that had happened to Jesus to this point, for the Bible tells us when Judas saw that Jesus had been condemned to death, he was seized with remorse. It doesn’t say he felt guilt or

sadness over what was going to happen; it says he was seized with remorse. Let’s break that down a bit. Seized means to take hold of suddenly and forcefully. Remorse means a gnawing distress arising from a sense of guilt for past wrongdoings. Oh, I have no doubt Judas regretted what he had done and was truly sorry; however, at the moment in time he realized what was going to happen to Jesus, that he was overcome by such an immense feeling of distress that he was literally frozen with remorse. Instead of turning to the one who could actually forgive him and restore his guilt laden soul, he tried to fix what he had done by returning the silver to the chief priests and elders, confessing his betrayal of innocent blood. In essence he was asking forgiveness from the very people who used him to betray Jesus and ultimately would be responsible for Jesus’s death. Do you think they remotely offered him any condolences or forgiveness? Not on your life. Their response to Judas was, “What is this to us? That’s your responsibility.” In other words, your sin is on your shoulders and you are responsible for the atonement of those sins. In anguish from the uncontrollable remorse, Judas threw the coins into the temple and did what he thought was the only thing to do to atone for his sins—he hanged himself. How tragic is this? Satan, the master manipulator, coerced Judas to initially betray Jesus and then convinced him that his sin was so bad, the only way to atone for it was to kill himself. What was even more tragic was that the one Judas betrayed, Jesus, would have welcomed him back with open arms, fully forgiving him of the sin he committed, and all it would have taken was a humble heart and simple faith. Just a bit of insight: Satan has not changed his tactics, even these two thousand years later. He still tries to convince us that our sins are our responsibility, and it is up to us to atone for them. Friends, nothing is farther from the truth. The one who Judas betrayed is our atonement, and he will not only forgive us of our sins, but will forget them as well. All it takes from us is a humble heart and a little faith. Once Judas had left, the chief priests picked up the silver and stated that it was against the law for them to put the silver in the treasury since it was blood money. Against the law? Are you kidding me? They just planned and coerced the sentencing of an innocent man to death, and they are now worried about where they are allowed to put money? Is that just not absolutely insane? So in typical pompous fashion, in an attempt to look the part of being holier than thou, they decided to use the silver to buy a potter’s field, so that foreigners would have a place to be buried. Wow. I am so impressed with their heartfelt goodness to strangers.

Before you get angry at me, I am not at all opposed for the church taking care of those in need. As a matter of fact, that is one of the prime directives of the church even to this day. I am simply expressing my frustrations because it was the way in which the chief priests conducted business. And truthfully, that is what it was. Business. It had nothing to do with their heart toward the needy, but all to do with their status in the eyes of the people. Please forgive me if I offended anyone; that was not my intention. Sometimes I find myself ing judgement, and obviously that is not my place or any other person’s place. Trust me, I am the first person I would condemn if I could because I know me. Anyway, let’s move on since I did say I would not get political in this story. Let’s not forget Peter. Peter did in fact repent, and the church of Jesus Christ was built upon the rock of Peter’s faith, along with all other believers throughout history. I have one more thing I want to talk about before we get to the crucifixion, but before I do, I need to give a little disclaimer. What we are going to talk about is quite gory and not at all pleasant. Some, over the years, have watered down the events surrounding the crucifixion because they do not want to offend anyone and feel it too violent to teach to children. Let me assure you, if you haven’t already figured me out, we are going to talk about it, and we are going to talk about every aspect of it. We will discuss the truth about what it was like to suffer a Roman flogging as well as the torture of being crucified in every horrific and stomach-turning detail. Not for the shock-and-awe factor some may think, but for the willing sacrifice and unconditional love of Jesus and God the Father. To fully understand this, you must understand the pain and suffering Jesus went through and why God allowed it. Let me also add, I would highly recommend each of you teach your children the truth. They need to know the depth of love Jesus and God the Father has for them, especially in the society we live in today. With that being said, Pilate had ordered Jesus to be flogged prior to his crucifixion. A flogging in general was a way to punish someone by hitting them repeatedly with a whip or stick. A Roman flogging as a prelude to crucifixion was quite different. So different in fact that it was actually called a scourging. The person being scourged would be stripped of their clothes and bound to a post. The implement used to scourge someone consisted of a short handle with several single twisted thongs of leather attached to the handle. Along the thongs of leather were affixed weighted lead balls as well as pieces of broken sheep’s bones. The leather thongs and sheep bones were designed to split the skin of the subject being scourged while the weighted lead balls were meant to cause deep contusions. As the scourging continued, the lacerations would tear and deepen

into the underlying skeletal muscles, leaving ribbons of bleeding flesh. The sole purpose of the scourging was to weaken the individual through the agonizing pain and blood loss so that the subject would die more quickly after being crucified. While scourging was not intended as a form of death, many people died from the scourging alone because of the tremendous shock placed on the body and the large amount of blood loss. The goal in scourging was to leave the subject with just enough strength to carry their own cross to the place they were to be crucified. This description I just spoke about was exactly what Jesus willingly allowed to happen to him. He was stripped of his clothing, bound to a post, and scourged to the point where his bloody flesh was hanging in strips from his beaten body. There is no need to try and understand how much pain he was in because we cannot even imagine. The only thing left to say is why? Why would Jesus subject himself to this torture? He could have called ten thousand angels to his rescue and destroyed all of those who hurt him, but he chose not to. And where was God in all of this? Why would he allow his son to suffer such great anguish? Why didn’t he intervene? The answer, while simple, is more complicated than I believe we will ever truly understand. We have to backpedal and God’s plan for the salvation of mankind. There must be atonement of sin in order for us to be allowed in to the presence of our holy God. There is no alternative other than all of us being doomed to an eternity outside of his presence. God, in his infinite wisdom and almighty glory, devised a plan so that one man, one sinless man, would bear the weight of the sin of all mankind on his shoulders and be punished to atone for the sin of all mankind. That man, Jesus, took it upon himself to suffer such tremendous pain for that purpose. Not because he had to, not because he was guilty of anything, but because he chose to. He chose to because he loves us more than he loves himself and willingly sacrificed himself for us. If that doesn’t touch you to your very core, then I am not sure what else I can say. To have someone love me to that depth, well, it is just inconceivable. After his scourging, Jesus was to be taken to a hill outside Jerusalem called Golgotha, also known as the place of the skull. As customary, the soldiers made Jesus carry his cross through the streets of Jerusalem, and it became quickly apparent that in such a weakened state, Jesus would not be able to carry his cross all the way. The pain, the shock, and the loss of blood from his battered body was just too much for him to bear the cross. The soldiers then seized Simon of

Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country with his two sons, and made him carry the cross behind Jesus. For reference sake, Cyrene was an ancient town in North Africa. I have often wondered why what appears to be such an insignificant event would be documented so specifically in the Bible. I can only assume it was part of God’s greater plan; after all, what an impact that must have had on Simon and his sons. To not only witness such a horrific event, but to also be an integral part of it to the point of having the lifeblood of the Son of God spilled on you from the cross you carried. I believe God used Simon and his story of what happened to him to spread the word about Jesus, as it is mentioned in the book of Acts chapter 2, where it is written: there were many from the town of Cyrene among the early Christian believers on the Day of Pentecost. But that, my friends, is a different story for a different time. As they once again started toward Golgotha, a large crowd of people began to follow. Some hurling insults, while others mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned to a group of women who were wailing and made a bonechilling prophesy. He said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me. Weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nurse!’ Then they will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?’” In other words, Jesus is saying that if people would do such evil and wickedness when he was alive on earth, how much more will they do when he is gone? Do we not see the explosion of evil and wickedness that exists in our world today? Such atrocities inflicted on innocent people by other human beings. Even while Jesus was being led to his own death, he still expressed his concern and love for mankind. Before we get to the actual crucifixion of Jesus and the events that followed, let me first explain what crucifixion was. You must know so you can fully grasp the breadth and depth of Jesus’s sacrifice and God’s love for us. I know I sound like a broken record, a term from my day, but we simply cannot forget. After all, if not us, who will share the good news with the next generation? Crucifixion was designed to cause maximum pain and often required many hours if not days for the subject to die. There are several historical descriptions of how the Romans performed crucifixions. All methods involved nailing the subject’s feet to the vertical of the cross, causing excruciating pain. Two methods for

affixing the subject’s arms to the horizontal beam of the cross included tying the subject’s arms to the beam and nailing the subject’s arms to the beam by driving a spike just above the wrist so that the weight of the subject’s body could be ed. In Jesus’s case, the second method was used, and he was nailed, both hands and feet to the cross. Besides the horrific pain from having large iron spikes driven through their wrists and feet, the fact that their arms were extended out and the entire weight of their body was stretching their chest made it very difficult to breath. The individual being crucified would literally have to raise themselves up, through the pain, to take a full breath. Keep in mind, they had been scourged so the flesh had been ripped open on their backs so each time they moved, they suffered horrendous agony. Once the strength of the subject’s legs gave out, the entire weight of their body would rest on their arms. Over time, the continual pull would cause the shoulder t to dislocate, followed by the elbow and wrist ts. It was not uncommon for a subject’s arms to be several inches longer after crucifixion. Eventually, the entire weight of the subject would be on the chest, and death from asphyxiation would soon follow. This whole process could literally take days, depending on the health and will of the crucified subject. Of course, the Romans found a way to speed this process along by breaking the legs of the subject if they did not die as quickly as they wanted them to. The entire process from scourging through crucifixion can only be described as sadistic. Surely this insanely brutal method of torture could only have been designed and inspired by Satan himself. In case you were wondering, the evil that existed in Jesus day and inspired this sadistic method of torture still exists today. And yes, evil people are still utilizing crucifixion to torture and kill innocent people today. Jesus was led to the hill called Golgotha, the place of the skull, and there he was crucified. His battered body was laid upon the cross, and large metal spikes were driven through his feet and wrists. Crucified with Jesus were two criminals, one on his right and the other on his left. As Jesus hung on the cross, he cried out to God, saying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Even as He hung dying, Jesus’s heart was more concerned with the lost than for his own life. The people who stood watching and the rulers sneered at Jesus, saying, “He saved others. let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the chosen one.” The soldiers even mocked Jesus, offering him wine vinegar, telling him to save

himself. One of the criminals also hurled insults at Jesus and said, “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us.” The other criminal rebuked the first, saying, “Don’t you fear God? We are punished justly for we are getting what we deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Jesus, me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” This reveals to us that it does not matter what you have done; you can be forgiven and spend eternity with the heavenly Father. It also reveals to us that it does not matter when you ask Jesus to forgive you, he will, even to the point of your death. Now, I would never recommend waiting since we do not know the time of our death, and our eternity is not worth risking, in my opinion. At approximately noon, the whole land was cast into darkness for the sun had stopped shining. The land remained in darkness for three hours. Now, before someone gets the idea and comes up with the explanation that it was merely a solar eclipse, let me enlighten you. A total solar eclipse can last from a few seconds to approximately seven minutes, no longer. This was not a solar eclipse. The Bible tells us the sun stopped shining. Let me give you my opinion of what happened, and you can decide for yourself. I believe there was a twofold purpose as to why God stopped the sun from shining. Let me start by saying, being a father myself, I would never allow my children to suffer as long as I have breath in my body and the ability to prevent it, but I am not God. We talked early on about the personhood of God and that he does feel and does have the ability to understand and show emotion. With that said, I believe God had taken all he could stand. He could no longer watch as his one and only son suffered, even though he knew it was the only way, so he stopped the sun from shining to block this horrendous act from his sight. No, I do not have biblical references ing this, but I do have a fatherly knowledge, and I would never willingly watch my child suffer, especially at the hands of such evil. I believe it was either God turns out the light so he cannot see, or brings his almighty wrath upon the entire world for what they were doing to his Son. I am thankful his love for us all won out. Speaking of evil, that brings me to the second reason I believe God stopped the sun from shining. We have seen from

the very beginning of creation that darkness is associated with evil and more specifically with Satan. I believe God stopped the sun from shining to allow the prince of darkness, Satan, to complete what he thought would be his greatest accomplishment of all time, the death of Jesus. Satan had proven through his coercion of weak-willed men that he could manipulate any outcome that he saw fit, or so he thought. We will get to that in just a bit. The darkness that covered the land was the embodiment of evil that surrounded this entire event. The death of Jesus, while God’s plan, was manipulated and designed by Satan, but God used it as a way for Jesus to bear the sin and evil of all mankind upon himself, and subsequently be the unblemished sacrificial lamb for all of us. The way to overcome evil and make a pathway for you and I to get to our heavenly Father. How awesome is that? We have just a bit more before we can continue on. It was now three in the afternoon, and Jesus called out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” And with that, he breathed his last breath. As Jesus breathed his last breath, the curtain in the temple was torn in two, and Jesus was dead. For those of you who do not know the significance of this, let me explain. The curtain in the Jewish temple was a barrier between the holy of holies (the presence of God) and sinful mankind. Only the high priest could enter the holy of holies once a year to seek atonement for the sins of the people. When Jesus died, he became the atonement required for the sins of mankind; therefore, there was no longer a need for a barrier between God and sinful mankind. Do you understand what I am saying? We have complete and utter access to God our heavenly Father because Jesus took the weight of all our sins and the evil of this world upon himself and died in our place. Obviously, there are conditions. We must accept the fact that Jesus was God’s son, and he did what I just explained he did, and we must seek repentance for our sins with a humble heart. God’s perfect plan for the salvation of mankind was now complete; well, almost—just a few more loose ends to tie up. One can only imagine the joy and celebration of Satan and his evil minions with the death of Jesus. He had orchestrated the death of the Son of God, and he felt invincible. Little did Satan know that the death of Jesus was God’s plan from virtually the beginning, or more exactly, from the fall of man. The revelry in hell would soon come to an end. There was a member of the Sanhedrin who did not agree with, nor did he participate in the actions of the Sanhedrin involving Jesus. His name was Joseph, and he was from the Judean town of Arimathea. Joseph was a unique individual in that he was a member of the Sanhedrin, but he was

also a follower of Jesus. Joseph went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus so that they may prepare it for burial according to Jewish law and custom. Jesus’s body was wrapped in linen, and they placed him in a freshly cut tomb as the Sabbath was quickly approaching. A large stone was placed at the mouth of the tomb to seal it. Jesus was placed in the tomb on Friday, before sundown, since sundown would begin the start of the Sabbath. Jesus’s body remained in the tomb all day Saturday, and something miraculous happened early Sunday morning. While it was not necessarily a surprise to anyone who actually listened and understood what Jesus said when he spoke about destroying this temple (his body) and that it would be raised again in three days. Early Sunday morning, several women, including Mary Magdalene, took spices to anoint the body of Jesus. When they got to the tomb where Jesus had been laid, the stone covering the entrance had been rolled away. Upon entering the tomb, the body of Jesus was gone. As they stood there pondering what had occurred, two men in clothes that gleamed like lightening suddenly stood beside them. I just want to make sure we are on the same page here. The two men didn’t walk into the tomb like the women did; they suddenly appeared. In other words, they were angels sent by God himself. The two men (angels) said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, he has risen. how he told you while he was still with you in Galilee? ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and on the third day be raised again.’” The women ed Jesus’s words and hurried back to tell the disciples what they had seen. The disciples did not believe the words of the women until they went to the tomb and verified that Jesus’s body was gone. The only thing left were the strips of linen used to wrap Jesus. Of course, the chief priests and religious leaders, still being blinded by Satan, concocted a story that the disciples actually stole Jesus’s body in an attempt to convince people Jesus had risen from the dead. This story reeks of falsehoods and lies based on the unsurmountable number of facts ing the truth: Jesus had risen from the dead just as he said he would. First of all, how do you explain the angels in the tomb saying exactly that—he is risen? Second, why in the world would the disciples remotely want to steal Jesus’s body for the purpose of covertly proving the resurrection? Wouldn’t the fact that if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead make him a liar and therefore make everything he said subject to scrutiny? Why would they perpetrate such a farce

for something they couldn’t possibly believe in at that point? It would totally not make any sense for them to do that. Finally, even if the first two arguments are not enough, there is no possible way to discredit the fact that Jesus himself appeared to many people, in the flesh, after his resurrection. Before we delve into that, let me stop those who are thinking, Well, maybe Jesus was not really dead. Let me assure you, the Romans were very good at what they did when it came to torturing and killing people. If that is not enough, the Bible tells us in the book of John, the soldiers broke the legs of the two criminals who were crucified with Jesus to speed along their deaths, and when they came to Jesus, they saw he was already dead. To make sure he was dead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear. Jesus was dead. After the resurrection, Jesus did in fact appear before hundreds of people. First to the disciples where he allowed them to touch his flesh to prove he was real and not merely a ghost or a dream. He also ate with them. It was then that Jesus reminded them what the scripture says about how the Christ will suffer at the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and on the third day be raised again. He also issued them the Great Commission telling them repentance and forgiveness of sin in the name of Jesus Christ will be preached to all nations beginning in Jerusalem. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 6 tells us that after that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Paul was writing this not long after the events of the crucifixion and resurrection and was basically telling the reader, “Check with the source and confirm what I have said.” In our modern criminal justice system, the testimony of one eyewitness can secure a conviction, so the testimony of five hundred is nothing short of absolute. There is no doubt Jesus did die, was buried, and did rise from the dead to live again. Why was the physical resurrection of Jesus so important? Wasn’t it enough that he took the sin of the world upon himself and died the sacrificial death for those sins in our stead? Didn’t this bridge the gap between a sinful mankind and a righteous God? The answer is yes and the answer is no. Take a trip with me back to the beginning of our journey together, and let me explain. the punishment God bestowed upon mankind for their disobedience and sin? God told Adam that because of his sin, from the dust he was made, and to the dust he would return. In other words, the punishment of sin was death. So the resurrection of Jesus not only proved once and for all that he was truly the Son of the Living God, but it also undid the punishment of death that convicted mankind from God’s initial judgement. Now, we can not only be forgiven of our

sins, but we have a pathway for eternal life in the presence of our holy God and his son, Jesus, because Jesus overcame death and the grave. God’s ultimate plan for mankind’s salvation was complete. After Jesus had appeared to the multitudes of people and given the Great Commission to his disciples, he led them to the vicinity of Bethany. There he raised his hands and began to bless them, and as he was blessing them, he was lifted up and taken to Heaven where he sits at the right hand of the Father. As the disciples were looking intently in the sky, two men dressed in white appeared beside them and said to them, “Why do you stand here and look into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken from you into Heaven will come back the same way you saw him go into Heaven.” What is this, a second coming of Jesus? That, my friends, is another story… To be continued, or you can read it for yourself in your nearest Bible. If it were me, I would not wait. It is an amazing story. Well, you all, I truly hope you not only enjoyed our journey together, but I also pray you learned a little. Like I have said before, I encourage each of you to test what you have read with what the Bible says. While I can promise you the things I have written about came straight from the Word of God, the best way to this is for you to read the Bible. Besides, there are more truths to be gleaned, so why wouldn’t you want to dig into the word? When I started writing this story, I wanted to cover three topics, after of course addressing the question of is God real and where did he come from. First, I wanted to talk about creation and our direct connection with nature spiritually and physically. Second, I wanted to discuss the fall of man and the chasm our disobedience and sin caused between us and a holy God. And third, I wanted to explain the ultimate plan of God for the salvation of mankind and the bridging of the chasm between sinful man and a holy God. I believe this information was necessary before I began to write any devotionals, so you would have a complete understanding of the unconditional love God has for us. With that knowledge, I believe you will get the maximum positive benefit from the devotionals. I certainly hope I have done that. It has been my pleasure to get to know you. Please continue on to the devotionals and be confident; much prayer has gone into this entire project, specifically for you.

Devotionals

When I first started thinking about writing this story, it was meant to be a devotional with a hiker’s theme. You have obviously seen it became much more. My goal, while initially to inspire people through the use of scripture and the awesomeness of nature, would not have had the impact I believe God intended unless everyone reading this fully grasped the plan God had for mankind from the beginning. I wanted, or should I say God wanted, everyone reading this to have faith and believe he did and could actually do the things he did and said he could do. And not only for those living thousands of years ago, but also for you and for me living today as well. The only way for you to trust and have faith in a God that truly loves you for who you are and truly wants to bless you where you are is to first of all believe God is real. Second, to believe God created you in his image for the purpose of fellowshipping with him for all eternity but through sin and disobedience, a separation was created. And third, to believe God in his unfailing love for us made a way through our disobedience and sin, to be with him in heaven. I hope through the first part of our story together you have seen these things and have found a way to believe and, most importantly, have faith. There is a difference between believing and having faith. Even Satan and the demons believe in God, but you must also have undeniable faith. The Bible tells us in the book of Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. In other words, believe God is real and believe through faith, that what He said in His word is true. Do this and I promise you, you will have a peace beyond understanding even through the trials and tribulations you will face in this life here on earth.” We are not promised a life free of pain and suffering, but we are promised God will be with us through the darkness in our life, and regardless of how things turn out, he will come out with us on the other side. when we talked earlier about the scripture that states, “To live is Christ and to die is gain.” As we are alive, we continue to share the good news of the salvation power of Jesus, and when we die, we gain ission to Heaven and are blessed to spend an eternity in the presence of our creator, God. The most important thing I want you

to get out of the time we have spent together is to fear not! It is the same message God wanted us to learn before Jesus came to the earth, and it is the same message Jesus continually preached while he was here. With that in mind, I would like to finally get to the devotional part of our journey. The hikes and trails I have chosen for this devotional honestly have no special meaning or majestic power, only that I asked God to give me a message before I started each of them. I didn’t want anyone to think if you hiked a certain trail you would automatically hear from God, even though I believe anytime you ask and expect, you can get a word or a message from God. It may not be audible, and it may not come right away, but I believe if your heart is right and God has a task for you to complete, he will share that with you, somehow or someway. I simply said a little prayer before each hike asking for a word of knowledge to share or a tidbit of wisdom to along. And just so you know, I am not a theologian, a pastor, or any other religious figure. I am just a man who faces the same struggles you all face, and I try my best to live a life pleasing to God. That, my friends, is why you are reading this story. I simply want to be obedient to his calling for my life. One last housekeeping point of order before we begin our hikes and devotions. You will notice, I do not indicate how strenuous a trail is because it really is up to the individual hiker. I try and describe the trail the best I can so you will have an idea of what is in store. I personally have three ratings for hiking trails. Number one: If I never have to breath out of my mouth while hiking, then I consider the trail easy. Number two: If I have to periodically breath out of my mouth and rest every so often, then I consider it moderate. Number three: If I am continually breathing out of my mouth and constantly hearing the drums beating in my ears from my heart pounding, then after questioning my sanity, I would call that trail strenuous. This, of course, is coming from a fifty-plus-year-old man who is in somewhat decent shape. That is why I leave the difficulty level of a trail up to each individual hiker. Enough talking, let’s get on the trail.

Trail number one: Baskins Creek Falls (three miles round trip on Baskins Creek Trail, upper trailhead) Location: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

Directions: From the main road in Gatlinburg (Highway 441) turn at light number eight onto Historic Nature Trail. Follow Historic Nature Trail approximately .7 (seventenths) miles, and veer right onto Cherokee Orchard Road, heading into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. After traveling 2.2 miles you will enter Cherokee Orchard Loop. Just past the Rainbow Falls trailhead, in approximately .9 (nine-tenths) miles, turn right onto the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. Roaring Fork Nature Trail is a one-way auto touring loop and is well worth the trip even if you do not plan on hiking. After turning onto Roaring Fork Nature Trail, the trailhead for the Baskins Creek Trail is .2 (two-tenths) miles on the left.

Trail Description: The trail to Baskins Creek Falls begins with a short moderate climb for approximately .25 miles. After this the trail levels, and depending on the time of year, you will have views of the surrounding mountains and even a glimpse of Gatlinburg. Summer foliage may obscure your view a bit, but early spring and winter will allow for some decent views. The trail begins a continual downhill descent, and after .9 (nine-tenths) miles you will have an unbridged creek crossing, which if you are hiking after a heavy rain, may be a bit difficult if your intention is to not get your feet wet. The trail then begins to follow the creek down the mountain in a rather rapid descent. This does make for a somewhat challenging hike for your return trip. A little over a mile on the trail you will come to a trail junction. To the left, a spur trail leads to Baskins Cemetery. Stay to the right to continue to Baskins Falls. At approximately 1.3 miles, there is another trail junction. Hiking straight ahead will take you across Baskins Creek and eventually to the eastern side of the Roaring Fork Nature Trail in 1.3 miles. To continue to Baskins Falls, turn left at this trail junction. The final stretch of trail to the falls is a bit steep and difficult; however, it is well worth the effort. This forty-foot waterfall is an untold gem and a perfect spot to enjoy a picnic lunch. Return to your vehicle via the same trail you hiked to get to the falls, but , the ease of the hike in will be reversed for a somewhat more difficult hike out.

Devotional: Standing All Alone to Being All in the Family For those of you who do not know, the Great Smoky Mountain National Park suffered multiple devastating forest fires in 2016. The initial cause of these fires was determined to be arson. Almost 18,000 acres were destroyed. 14 people lost their lives, and 134 people were injured. While hiking this trail I observed not one, but two standing burnt trees. What was unique about these trees was they were nowhere close to each other, and they each stood in the middle of a group of trees that were totally untouched by the fire. As I hiked, God began dealing with my heart, impreson me that there are many people who are hurting and feel exactly like those trees. In the midst of everyone around them in their life who appear to be doing just fine, they are hurting and feel like they are alone in the fire. They feel abandoned and like no one cares about their pain and suffering. While solitude can be therapeutic, especially for someone who is spending time alone to commune with God to restore their weary soul, loneliness and the feeling of being alone because someone is hurting can be devastating. This type of aloneness can cause someone to spiral into a deep dark depression, which is exactly where Satan wants them to be. In this state of depression, they are easily coerced into thinking there is no God, and no one cares whether they live or die. If this is you, I need you to stop right there, and I implore you to listen to me. You are not alone. From the very beginning of our journey together, do you what God said about Adam? In the second chapter of Genesis, God himself said, “It was not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” After God had brought forth all the beasts he had created before Adam to be named, God realized there was no suitable helper for him, so out of Adam’s flesh, God made Eve. Adam had Eve and Eve had Adam, but most importantly they both had God. I need you to know you are not alone. There are people on this earth that God created who love you and care deeply about your pain and suffering. I am one, and believe me, there are many, many others. And above all, God, your heavenly Father, loves you even more. I want to leave you with one final thought. While hiking this trail I also came upon an area that suffered significant damage from the fire. While one may think it would take a multitude of years to recover, I observed something I didn’t quite understand. There were hundreds and hundreds of seedlings, of what I later learned to be Table Mountain Pines, growing all over the devastated area. Apparently, this species of pine tree has a

pine cone that only opens from the heat of a fire and allows its seeds to be dispersed. Let me assure you, even though you may be going through the fire of your life, God is with you, and you will come out of the fire with new growth, refined and stronger than when you went in. Please take a few minutes to read and meditate on the following scriptures.

Scripture Verses Daniel chapter 3 verses 22–25. Verse 22: “The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the men who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.” Verse 23: “and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the fire.” Verse 24: “Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, ‘Wasn’t it three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?’ They replied, ‘Certainly, O king.’ Verse 25: “He said, ‘Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.’” 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 7. Verse 7: “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” Philippians chapter 4 verses 6 and 7. Verse 6: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Verse 7: “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Hebrews chapter 13 verse 6. Verse 6: “So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” Psalm 68 verses 5 and 6. Verse 5: “A Father to the fatherless, a defender of the widows, is God in His holy dwelling.” Verse 6: “God sets the lonely in families, He leads the prisoners with singing, but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.”

Prayer: I debated on writing out a prayer for each devotional and decided not to. Prayer,

especially given specific issues in each devotional, is a very personal and intimate thing. Individual communion with God should be just that. I encourage you to spend a few minutes talking with God. If you have never prayed before, simply begin talking to God as you would your best friend. I promise you, he will listen and while I cannot promise you will get an immediate answer, knowing he is listening and that his will ultimately will be accomplished will give you the peace you seek.

Trail number two: Baskins Creek Falls (three miles round trip on Baskins Creek Trail, lower trailhead) Location: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

Directions: Follow the directions listed for trail number one, Baskins Creek Falls, upper trailhead. From the upper trailhead of Baskins Creek Trail, continue driving on Roaring Fork Nature Trail for approximately 2.7 miles. There is a pull off to the left just before crossing Roaring Fork Creek. A trailhead sign indicating Baskins Creek Trail and Trillium Gap is also present at the pull off. There is additional parking just across the bridge over Roaring Fork Creek.

Trail Description: The trail begins with a short hike to a cemetery located on the left side of the trail. Many of the grave markers have been worn away with the age time and are unreadable. I have visited many old cemeteries in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, and it never ceases to amaze me, or should I say trouble me, at the number of grave markers for young children and even newborns. When I see the date of birth and the date of death as the same day, I am always reminded of how hard life must have been back in the time of the early settlers. The trail continues past the cemetery and begins an uphill ascent to a ridgeline. This uphill section is continual but not necessarily long or difficult. On the other side of the ridgeline, the trail begins a long and steady downhill descent through a hemlock forest with thick areas of rhododendrons. While easy on the downhill hike, this section will be somewhat difficult on the hike out, depending of course on your state of conditioning. A short ascent from this point will then have you descending to an open area that used to be an old homestead. If you look carefully, you will see signs of the homestead, including a pile of stones that used to be the chimney to a home. Continue on the trail to a trail junction. Straight ahead will take you to the upper trailhead for Baskins Creek Trail reference trail number one. To the right will take you to Baskins Creek Falls. As stated in the description for trail number one, this section of trail leading to the falls is quite steep so be careful and watch children closely. Return to your vehicle via the same trail you hiked in.

Devotional: Shallow Roots, Timber You Fall While I would not normally hike a second trail to the same destination I have previously hiked from a different trail, I was impressed to do so on this particular trail. I believe God is teaching me that in hiking, much like in life, the destination is the focus; however, it is the journey where you truly learn and grow. For both trail number one and trail number two, the goal was the same waterfall, but the uniqueness of each trail allowed me to learn two separate truths about God. As I hiked this trail, I noticed several large trees that had fallen with massive root systems unearthed and still attached to the tree. The circumference of the root systems was enormous; however, the depth of the root systems did not seem deep enough to such large trees. I began to wonder why their roots did not grow deeper to such big trees, and then I realized that the rockiness of the mountains and the shallowness of the soil prevented the roots of the trees from growing deeper. God began revealing to me that oftentimes a person’s faith may be just like the root systems of these fallen trees. While knowledge and understanding may make your faith appear to be massive, the real question is how deep are your faith roots planted? From the beginning of this trail, we were inundated with mosquitos. The constant buzzing in our ears and swarming around our heads was enough to drive a sane person insane. As I was debating on calling it quits and turning back, God allowed my thoughts to understand that the mosquitos were just like the distractions of Satan and this world. Will I allow this distraction to keep me from my destination, or will I focus on the destination instead of the distraction? Do you have an unquestionable faith and trust in God in all things, or do you begin to waver as the storms of this life batter you to and fro? Does Satan’s incessant distractions prevent you from focusing on God and his will for your life, or do your own worries prevent you from allowing God to guide your path? In closing, let me assure you of three things. Number one: while you have breath in your lungs and you are trying to live a life pleasing to God, Satan will never stop trying to distract you. Number two: the worries of this world will always battle for your attention over your focus on God. And number 3: God will always be with you when Satan attempts to distract you and while the trials and tribulations of this world do their best to destroy your faith. Plant your faith roots deeply in the good soil of God’s word. Always , God is the destination. Learn and grow on this journey of life, but do not allow the

distractions to make you lose focus of the destination. Please take some time to read and meditate on the following scripture verses.

Scripture Verses Matthew chapter 13 verses 3–9. Verse 3: “Then He (Jesus) told them many things in parables, saying, ‘A farmer went out to sow his seed.’” Verse 4: “As he was scattering his seed, some fell upon the path, and the birds came and ate it up.” Verse 5: “Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.” Verse 6: “But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.” Verse 7: “Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.” Verse 8: “Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” Verse 9: “Whoever has ears, let them hear.” Luke chapter 6 verses 47–49. Verse 47: “Jesus is speaking, ‘As for anyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like.’” Verse 48: “They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When the flood came, the torrent struck the house but could not shake it, because it was well built.” Verse 49: “But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and the devastation was complete.” Mark chapter 4 verse 19. Verse 19: “But the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.” Genesis chapter 3 verse 1. Verse 1: “Now the serpent [Satan] was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden”?’”

Prayer: I encourage you to spend a few minutes talking with God. Even if you feel like you don’t need it, he does. He cares for you and truly wants to hear from you. I have always found him to be a good listener.

Trail number three: Middle Prong Trail (4.6 miles round trip) Location: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

Directions: From the intersection of Highway 73 and Laurel Creek Road, drive west toward Cades Cove. In .2 (two-tenths) of a mile look for the sign to Tremont on the left. Turn left and follow the Tremont Road. At approximately 2.2 miles, a road to the right leads to the trailhead for the West Prong Trail. Just past this road is a road to the left leading to the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont. There are restrooms and a small bookstore at this facility. Back at the intersection, continue down the Tremont Road for about three miles. The road will end at a circular turn around with ample parking. The last three miles are gravel but was maintained very well when we went. I have read other s of numerous potholes and imagine the road could get rough because of weather changes. There are also a few one-lane bridges in this section, so just be careful and enjoy the ride. The trailhead begins just beyond the parking area.

Trail Description: Beyond the parking area you will cross a footbridge spanning Lynn Camp Prong. It is always nice to stand in the middle of a footbridge and take in the beauty of the rushing water beneath. It can be quite mesmerizing. Once across the bridge the trail splits. To the right, a short quiet walkway and to the left, Middle Prong Trail. As you hike Middle Prong Trail, you will notice it used to be an old roadbed. Actually, it was a railroad bed used in the late 1800s into the early 1900s for the timber industry. Even though the trail has an inclined grade the entire length, the roadbed makes for quite an easy and enjoyable hike. Middle Prong Trail is a dual-use trail, meaning horses are allowed on this trail. With this in mind, beyond the obvious warning of watching where you step, I would like to give you a little trail etiquette. Hikers should always yield the right of way to horses. This is primarily because some horses may be skittish, and your movement can cause them to be unpredictable, resulting in possible injury to you or the rider. Best practice is to step off trail and remain still until the horse es. Since Lynn Camp Prong flows on the left side of the trail for the majority of the hike, you are afforded beautiful views and sounds of flowing water. After about .4 (four-tenths) of a mile, you will come to the Lower Lynn Camp Falls. This multitiered waterfall is quite impressive. Some would call it a series of cascades, but whatever you call it, I call it beautiful. Farther up the trail you will have a better view of the upper portion of the falls. Shortly past this point, you will come to a rocky outcropping that will allow amazing views of the rushing water below. Be careful and watch young children if you attempt to walk out on the rocks. Approximately two-thirds of a mile from the trailhead, you will come to another two-tiered waterfall. The majority of the lower section of this hike is full of wonderful cascades, waterfalls, and blissful sounds of the torrents of water rushing over the rocks. Continue up the trail, and in about 1.3 miles you will see a small side trail on the right. The trail goes over a berm, and on the other side are the remains of a 1920s or ’30s model Cadillac, presumably remnants from the logging industry. At approximately 2.3 miles you will come to a trail intersection. To the left is the Panther Creek Trail, and straight ahead is the Greenbrier Ridge Trail, and further yet the Appalachian Trail. We chose to turn around here and enjoy the hike back to our car.

Devotional: From Chaos to Peace to Chaos Again As with all trails I hike, my simple prayer was for God to reveal to me something, a nugget of truth that I could share from my time with him on this trail. In typical God fashion, he did not fail me, but he did remind me to be openminded and realize his word can come in different ways and from other people. I will be quite honest: I was so caught up in the beauty and peacefulness of this trail, I was having difficulty focusing on the purpose of the hike. I seriously began to wonder if this was what God wanted me to learn and share? The answer was no. There was something more. My wife hiked this trail with me, and as we stood iring one of the many falls, she said something to the effect of “Look how calm and peaceful the water is above the falls and how turbulent it is below.” And it hit me. God had used my wife’s observations to reveal a very powerful truth to me. The whole trail had been this way: a quiet, serene pool followed by a waterfall or cascade of thundering water over rocks and then back to the quiet, serene pools. I stood there for quite a while, taking in what she had said and listening to what God wanted me to share. Life is a mirror image of this creek. We go through times of chaos, find peace, and then back to chaos. I began to meditate on why this occurs. While I cannot speak for everyone, I know in my life, during times of peace and contentment, I tend to let my guard down. I find myself not necessarily turning away from God, but more like not relying on him as much. In that peace and contentment phase, my mind tends to wonder to things of the world as opposed to the things of God. Again, I am not saying I begin sinning, even though we are all sinners saved by grace, but my focus gets a little distracted. I really think it is an ingrained aspect of human nature to act this way. The biggest problem with this mindset is it allows Satan a perfect opportunity to invade your life, and before you know it, chaos again. Let me be honest: chaos can and will come in to your life whether you are a prayed-up, spirit-filled believer walking every second of every day with God, or you are a person just struggling to get by, cashing in your grace card every chance you get. There is no magic answer to prevent the chaos from coming, so I want us to focus on the cycle and get a better understanding, so when the chaos comes it doesn’t devastate us. The chaos cycle is easy to understand. Our life is a wreck, and we don’t know how we are going to make it

to tomorrow, so we cry out to God and plead with a sincere and broken heart for help. In the midst of the turmoil, God’s still small voice can be heard; “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Just like standing at the base of a waterfall or the middle of a cascade watching the tumultuous water, there is this mesmerizing sound coming forth. A sound that calms your soul and gives you peace. A sound you could listen to all day. The peace and contentment cycle, on the other hand, is much more difficult to comprehend and will take some effort on our part. The key thing to is that God is with us always, in peace and in chaos. What we must learn to do is reach out to him during those times of peace and contentment and try our very best to hear that still small voice of God in the silence. I believe the hardest time to know God is with us is when we feel like we do not need him. God has not gone anywhere; we have. It is up to us to seek him out during those times of peace and make sure we carry that peace and contentment with us into the chaos that we know will come. If we learn to do that, then we can truly have the peace that es all understanding before, during and after those troubled times in our lives. Please take a few minutes to read and meditate on the following scriptures.

Scripture Verses Luke chapter 8 verses 22–25. Verse 22: “One day Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.’ So they got into a boat and set out.” Verse 23: “As they sailed, He fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.” Verse 24: “The disciples went and woke Him saying, Master, Master, we are going to drown. He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.” Verse 25: “‘Where is your faith?’ He asked His disciples.” John chapter 14 verse 27. Verse 27: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” Philippians chapter 4 verses 6 and 7. Verse 6: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Verse 7: “And the peace of God, which transcends all

understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” John chapter 16 verse 33. Verse 33: “(Jesus is speaking) ‘I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.’”

Prayer: I encourage you to take a few minutes and talk with God. Especially if you are in a cycle of peace and contentment. Reach out to God in the quietness of your restful soul. Wait in the silence and listen for his voice. Know he is there and that you need him now more than when you are in the middle of chaos.

Trail number four: Baxter Creek Trail (12.4 miles round trip) Location; Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Tennessee

Directions: The trailhead for the Baxter Creek Trail is located in the Big Creek access area of the park. The easiest way to get there is from I-40. Approximately sixty miles east of Knoxville and fifty miles west of Asheville is the Waterville road exit (number 451). After exiting I-40, turn onto Tobes Creek Road, right if coming from Knoxville or left if coming from Asheville. Cross over the Pigeon River and veer left onto Waterville Road. Continue 2.1 miles to a four-way intersection. Proceed straight through the intersection, and you will enter the Big Creek access area. Follow this road to where it ends in the Big Creek picnic area. This is about three miles from the interstate. The trailhead for Baxter Creek Trail is on the far side of the picnic area.

Trail Description: The Baxter Creek Trail is one of many that will take you to the summit of Mt. Sterling; however, this trail stands out from all others because it is the most difficult. As a matter of fact, the Baxter Creek Trail is arguably the most difficult day hike in the park. While I traditionally do not rate trails for others as stated earlier, I will come right out and say that this trail is definitely a mouth breather, war drum-hearing trail. This is primarily because of the 4,200-feet in elevation gain over the 6.2 miles to the fire tower located on the summit of Mt. Sterling. The trade-off for your effort is this is also one of the prettiest trails in the park with your climb through hardwood forests at lower elevations, to the spruce-fir forests at the upper elevations and the magnificent views from the fire tower atop Mt. Sterling. Please do not let the difficulty of the trail dissuade you. Take your time, hydrate well, and most importantly enjoy the trail. The trailhead is located beyond the parking area, and you will start off by crossing a steel footbridge spanning Big Creek. After crossing the bridge, turn right to continue on the trail. At approximately .3 (three-tenths) of a mile, there is a side trial that veers to the right. Along the side trail you will see remnants of an old stone wall, and if you continue, you will come to a stone chimney near the banks of the creek. Back on the main trail, you will begin your relentless climb to the summit of Mt. Sterling. You will have to rock hop across Baxter Creek at about .7 (seven-tenths) of a mile as it rushes down the mountain to meet up with Big Creek. You will now be hiking among some of the largest old growth trees in the park. This ethereal forest is nothing short of absolutely amazing. As you ascend up the trail, you will have several more stream crossing, but none were difficult when we hiked. You will continue through the hardwood forest until about 3.9 miles when you will begin to see spruce-fir trees starting to intermingle with the hardwoods. By 4.4 miles the hardwoods have given way to the quiet beauty of the spruce-fir forests. Now you have reached Mt. Sterling ridge, which just might be the prettiest part of the trail. At 5.9 miles, just before the summit, a side trail leads to a water source for those of you who are planning on spending the night at campsite number thirty-eight on the summit of Mt. Sterling. Finally, at 6.2 miles, you will reach the summit. If you plan on climbing the fire tower, please be careful. It was a bit out of sorts when we were there, including some open spaces

in the floor of the tower. The views were gorgeous on the day we hiked because of clear skies. After resting and hopefully enjoying some food to replenish your energy, return to your vehicle via the same trail you ascended. I would like to add a word of caution before your descent. Unless you are in terrific shape, your legs will be quite tired from the ascent. The steepness during your ascent of the trail did not change since you reached the summit, so during your descent, please be extra careful. I made the mistake of trying to descend too quickly and because my leg stamina was compromised from my ascent, my left leg gave out and I slipped off the side of the trail. While slightly injured, I was able to hike out on my own. Just be careful and take you time and enjoy the hike out. You may just see something you missed during your hike up.

Devotional: Lack of Preparation Leads to a Difficult Battle What would you call someone who had all the information they needed to make an educated, informed decision about a very difficult situation, but chose to ignore everything and do it their own way? On second thought, don’t answer that. Before I hiked this trail, I had read several trail descriptions, and all of them mentioned how difficult the trail was. We had planned this hike for several months, giving us plenty of time to get prepared, or so one would think. Having hiked in the Smokies for thirty years, I either overestimated my abilities or underestimated the magnitude of this trail. Regardless, I had neither prepared my body physically nor was I mentally ready for the challenges this trail so graciously offers. It wasn’t as if I didn’t know what lay ahead; I simply chose to ignore it and trust myself because I felt as if I was in control. Simple preparation could have made this most beautiful trail even more beautiful if I had simply acted on the truths I knew beforehand. The best way to prepare to hike a difficult trail is to simply hike. This is also the easiest method to develop stamina in your legs and to build cardio for those difficult trails. Living in the flatlands of central Indiana was no excuse for me. There are plenty of hiking trails around me, so to not be prepared rests solely on my shoulders. With all of this in mind, we all need to realize that our spiritual preparedness is even more important than any physical endeavor we wish to accomplish. Physical well-being is important for a lifetime of good health, but spiritual well-being is essential if we wish to spend an eternity with God. Just like having the knowledge about this trail prior to hiking and not acting, many of us have spiritual knowledge yet do nothing to prepare our spirits for the battles we face in this life. Failure to prepare for a physical battle can result in anything, from not completing a task, to possibly injury as I suffered on this trail. However, failure to prepare for a spiritual battle can result in something much worse—an eternity outside God’s presence. Everyone knows that to prepare for a physical battle, one must exercise their body to get in shape for the challenge ahead. But how does one prepare for a spiritual battle? The answer can be found in three simple words: communication, education, and experience. Communication, or in simpler prayer, is essential for keeping your spirit in shape. Regular conversations with God will remind you that you are not in the battle alone and that the creator of the

universe is on your side. It is not that God cannot hear you in that frantic moment when you need him the most, even if you have not reached out to him for quite some time, but it is for your benefit to know that he is always with you. The best way to know this is to speak with him daily. Second, education plays a huge role in preparing your spirit for battle. The best resource—no not the internet, although it can be useful—is the Holy Bible. Yes, you can read it on the Internet, but I find there is something special about turning those thin pages, hearing the rustle and seeing the wear and tear from many years of use. Regardless of how you read it, the important thing is that you do. Learn and understand that we are spiritual beings living on this earth in physical bodies and that the majority of our spiritual battles will come masqueraded as physical issues. One of Satan’s favorite ploys is to attack us in the physical realm to distract our spirit in an attempt to draw us away from God. Lastly, experience—or maybe I should have said wisdom—is the key to maintaining strong spiritual health until the day we are called to be with God for eternity. Life experiences plus knowledge will lead to great wisdom. Learn as you live and grow as you learn. More importantly, share your wisdom with others. It may be in a word God has given you to offer, or it may simply be the way in which you live your life. I have one last observation and morsel of wisdom I would like to along before we close. The one thing that I will always above all else about this trail is that about halfway up, we saw an older couple who must have been in their mid to upper sixties. They were holding hands as they slowly and methodically walked up the trail. I could see them ahead of us, and they would stop and look at the trees or the flowers and then simply begin walking again. We ed them and said good morning, and I honestly thought that would be the last we would see of them. Surely, they would turn around and head down. Was I surprised when we were heading down a few hours later and saw the same older couple still hiking? They were about three quarters of the way up the trail, and you can bet your bottom dollar they made it to the top. What impressed me the most about them was the fact they were prepared. Their slow, methodical approach gleaned from years of knowledge and wisdom allowed them to not only accomplish such a physically demanding feet, but also allowed them to enjoy the trail much more than I did because of my lack of preparation. Please take a few minutes to read and meditate on the following scriptures.

Scripture Verses Ephesians chapter 6 verses 12–17. Verse 12: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Verse 13: “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” Verse 14: “Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate or righteousness in place.” Verse 15: “and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” Verse 16: “In addition to all of this, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” Verse 17: “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verses 3 and 4. Verse 3: “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.” Verse 4: “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” Galatians chapter 5 verse 17. Verse 17: “For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.” 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 8. Verse 8: “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Isaiah chapter 40 verses 29–31. Verse 29: “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” Verse 30: “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.” Verse 31: “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Prayer: Please take a few minutes and talk with God. Ask him to renew your strength and prepare your spiritual cannons for the battles that will come in your life. Seek his wisdom to discern the cunning schemes of the evil one, so that you can put a stop to them before they can harm you or your loved ones. Most of all, thank him for what he has done for you. Everyone likes a good old-fashioned thank you, even God.

Trail number five: Grotto Falls Trail (10.6 miles round trip via a hike up the Roaring Fork Nature Trail Road from its terminus or 3 miles round trip from the Grotto Falls Trailhead) Location: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

Directions: The normal route to the Grotto Falls Trailhead would take you to Gatlinburg where you would turn at light number eight. You would then follow Cherokee Orchard Road into the park and eventually turn onto Roaring Fork Nature Trail Road. Approximately two miles around Roaring Fork Nature Trail Road, you would come to the Grotto Falls Trailhead. Well, this hike was a bit different. To fully explain, let me tell you a story. Hypothetically speaking, what would a family do if they had planned all year to take a trip to the Smoky Mountain National Park only to find out when they got there, the federal government decided to play politics and shut down the park? Besides being very angry and wanting to say words you cannot say because you are a Christian and your kids are present. Suppose the condominium you were staying in is located on the Roaring Fork Nature Trail Road just as it leaves the park. One might assume this family would leave their condo for a little stroll up Roaring Fork Nature Trail Road, and before long, somehow magically they were in the park. Before any of you start calling the federal authorities to report such a heinous crime, the Park Rangers were not actually preventing people from entering the park. They had coned off trailhead entrances and shut gates to roads like Roaring Fork Nature Trail Road but were not stopping people from entering the park and hiking. This truly was a great adventure. So our trail started where Roaring Fork Nature Trail Road exited the park.

Trail Description: For those of you who have driven Roaring Fork Nature Trail Road, you know the first half of the road coming in from Cherokee Orchard Road is all uphill, and once you reach the Grotto Falls Trailhead it is all downhill. Some of it quite steep in spots. Since we got the bright idea to hike from the end of Roaring Fork to the Grotto Falls Trailhead, we were presented with 3.8 uphill miles before we even got to the trailhead. While road hiking can be somewhat easier than trail hiking as it pertains to obstacles on the trail, it is quite a bit harder on your feet and legs. Besides the natural beauty of the surrounding forest, you will see many sites on your way up. First you will come upon the Thousand Drip Falls just off the roadway to the right. I have seen these falls many times in the past, but always while driving. Standing in front of them gave me a whole different perspective of how beautiful they truly are. As you continue up the road you will come to three separate homesteads before you get to the Grotto Falls Trailhead. First is Alfred Reagan’s homestead. His home and tub mill still sit on the property. Next you will come to Ephraim Reagan’s place and finally the Jim Bale’s homestead. It will be well worth your while to stop at each location and take in the history. I always stop and try to imagine how life would have been back in the day living on a homestead like this. As you look at the cabins and other buildings, just imagine the amount of time and energy it would have taken to fall the trees, hew the logs, cut the notches, and then stack the logs to make the building. All of this done by hand, I might add. Just across the bridge from the Jim Bale’s place is the lower trailhead for Baskins Creek Falls. Continue up and up and up, and you will finally get to the Grotto Falls Trailhead. The actual trailhead to Grotto Falls is a short access trail that leads to the Trillium Gap Trail. Starting from the trailhead, Grotto Falls is an easy 1.5-mile hike up the Trillium Gap Trail. Regardless of season, the trail meanders through some beautiful old-growth hardwood forests. If you hike in the spring, there will also be an over-abundance of wild flowers along the trail. You will have to cross four small streams along the way. None have footbridges but typically cause little to no issues when crossing; however, always use caution when crossing streams regardless of the amount of water. At approximately 1.2 miles you will come to a cascade and shortly after you will see glimpses of

Grotto Falls. What makes Grotto Falls different from any other falls in the park is that you can actually walk behind the falls. In the heat of summer, this offers hikers a shady, cool, and wet spot to enjoy the falls. Again, regardless of the season, watch your step as you are walking around and behind the falls because the wet rocks can be quite slippery. The falls also afford a great opportunity for pictures; however, because of the popularity of the falls, it may be a bit difficult to get a picture without someone else in it. Hike early if you want a chance to get a selfie of just you and the falls, or in our case, hike when the park is closed. I would normally say return to your vehicle via the same trail you hiked in on, but for this hike, return to your condominium via the same trail you hiked in on.

Devotional: Solitude—the Five-Hour Energy for Your Spirit) The Great Smoky Mountains National Park! The most visited National Park in the country, with over eleven million people annually enjoying the biodiversity it offers. While the park can be extremely busy regardless of time of year, the fall seems to be the busiest for obvious reasons. It is in the fall that God paints the mountains with such beautiful colors that mere words cannot begin to explain. It is for this reason so many people flock to the park in the fall, and it is for this reason that I never, in thirty plus years, went to the park in the fall. Yes, I it it, I have a patience issue that me and God have been working on for quite some time. The issue is exacerbated when crowds of people are involved because typically someone always does something silly. My family, or should I specifically say my wife, really wanted to go to the park in the fall, so I knew we would have to plan well in advance. The reservations were made in March of 2013 to ensure we would have a place to stay the coming October. Little did we know at the time the federal government would decide to shut down the very week we arrived at the park. To say we were all very upset would have been an understatement. Me, more so than the rest, because I knew I could not escape to the mountains from the craziness that was going on in Gatlinburg. I had never seen so many people in all my life. I was literally stressing myself to the point of anger just from the volume of people and the amount of traffic. I was on the verge of a meltdown and needed God’s intervention in a big way. We didn’t want to violate any laws and go into the park if we were not supposed to, so we decided to drive through the park via the main road, US 441, just to see what was going on. We saw that the Park Rangers had coned off the trailheads to the hiking trails along US 441. However, people were parking away from the trailheads and still hiking. Apparently, the Park Rangers were not stopping people from entering the park; they were obviously just doing what they had been told. So that was it then. Since the condominium we were staying in was located on Roaring Fork Nature Trail Road just as it left the park, we decided we would hike from the condo up Roaring Fork Nature Trail Road to Grotto Falls. None of us even knew how far it would be, but by golly, we were going to do it. That, my friends, was the most amazing hike I have ever done in my entire life. The experience God blessed me with was nothing short of a miracle to me. He

truly restored my soul and rejuvenated my spirit. He did all of that, not by some spectacular scenery or remarkable encounter, but simply by gifting me solitude. The hours I spent alone in the middle of the busiest park in the nation were truly a gift from God and, for all intents and purposes, will never happen again. Yes, my family was there, but we were alone. I was alone with my thoughts and my prayers. I began to fully understand why Jesus, so many times, retreated to be alone and pray when his spirit became weak. There are many scriptures, which I will list below, telling how Jesus escaped to the mountain or to the garden to be alone to pray. It is no wonder why God’s son would flee to nature for a time of restoration, and it is no surprise why we as God’s creation would do the same. While a prayer closet is a wonderful thing, nothing will ever beat fleeing to the solitude of nature when your spirit needs a recharge. You cannot be the servant God wants you to be if you are always running your gas tank empty. If you have never done so, I encourage you to find a place of solitude in nature to commune with God. Your spirit will be refreshed, and your life will be changed. Please take a few minutes to read and meditate on the scriptures below.

Scripture Verses Matthew chapter 14 verse 23. Verse 23: “After He had dismissed them, He went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone.” Luke chapter 6 verse 12. Verse 12: ‘One of those days Jesus went out into the hills to pray, and spent the night praying to God.” Mark chapter 1 verse 35. Verse 35: “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Luke chapter 5 verse 16. Verse 16: “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Matthew chapter 6 verse 6. Verse 6: “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Prayer: Please find a place of solitude. Whether it be your prayer closet, underneath a tree in your yard, or even the depths of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Let all of your thoughts focus on God and talk with him. Tell him everything and hold nothing back. After you have done this, wait… Wait in silence and listen for the still small voice of your Lord and Savior. The whisper in the silence. Do not force anything, simply wait.

Trail number six: Joe Brown Trailhead to Joe Brown Creek (two miles round trip) Location: Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness in the Gallatin National Forrest, Montana

Directions: From Gardiner, Montana, take Highway 89 north for approximately thirteen miles to the trailhead, which is located across the highway from the Yankee Jim Picnic Area and Boat Launch. Be watchful because there is only a small sign on the east side of the road indicating the trailhead.

Trail Description: At the trailhead, a sign reminds us that we are not in Kansas anymore. A warning advises that bears are active in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Area. This does include black bear and grizzly bear. As I am not a bear expert, I will not begin to try and give you bear-safety tips. However, I do know bear spray is not only the best deterrent for an aggressive bear, but it is highly recommended by the true experts. Please do not allow the fear of unforeseen possibilities to keep you from experiencing the true wonder that nature provides. The trail begins at the base of Dome Mountain, gradually ascending the southward face. Mountain sage covers the lower section of the trail, offering up a unique aromatic smell that some feel is too strong while others enjoy immensely. Regardless, the earthy smell of the sage reminds you that you are in the great outdoors, so I simply recommend that you the aroma as a memory of your time on the mountain. As you ascend higher up the mountain, the trail hugs the side of the mountain, and the loose rocky surface of the trail makes footing somewhat difficult. Just be cautious, and watch your step. The views along the trail are absolutely gorgeous. If you have never experienced the sight of the Rocky Mountains of Southwestern Montana and Northwestern Wyoming, you are truly in for amazing images that will be engrained in your mind for the rest of your life. As you round the south face of Dome Mountain, the trail levels off, still offering tremendous views of the surrounding mountain ranges as well as an ever-increasing volume of pine trees. The mixture of sage and pine scents create a potpourri that could be sold in any store. While we never saw any wildlife on our hike, the habitat is more than conducive to ing numerous species. At approximately one mile, the trail crosses Joe Brown Creek, a small drainage creek that funnels the snow melt and rainwater to the awaiting Yellowstone River below. We stopped at Joe Brown Creek for a specific reason that I will address in the devotional below; however, Joe Brown Trail continues on, connecting with Slip and Slide Creek trail and then Cedar Creek Trail. These combined trails can take you to the peak of Monitor Mountain, at 10,420 feet.

Devotional: Where Is Your Treasure? If there is one thing I am sure of, it would be that everyone reading this has never heard of the Joe Brown Trail or the Joe Brown Creek. And I am sure many of you are wondering why in the world would I have hiked to basically a mountain drainage ditch? Well, honestly, the views are really amazing, but that is not why I hiked this trail. The real reason I hiked this trail was to search for a treasure. Yep, I said treasure. Just as you have never heard of this trail, I am also sure you have never heard of the Forrest Fenn treasure. Forrest Fenn is a former art-gallery owner from Santa Fe, New Mexico, who made his fortune through art dealing. When Forrest was in his fifties, he learned he had kidney cancer and was given only a 20 percent chance of living. Being an avid outdoorsman all of his life, specifically spending every summer of his youth in West Yellowstone Montana, Forrest devised a plan to fill a small treasure chest with gold and jewels and hide it in a special place to him in the Rocky Mountains North of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Forrest did this to entice and encourage people to get out into the great outdoors and enjoy the wonders of nature God had created. He wrote a poem, which is the map to the treasure location, and that is how and why I ended up hiking Joe Brown Trail. This was my solution for the treasure poem. Did I find it? We will see in just a bit. I told myself from the very beginning of my research that finding the treasure was not what was important, but the excitement and the thrill of looking was all that mattered. If you believe that, I have some oceanfront property in Nevada to sell you very cheap. I truly was looking forward to going to Montana since I had never been there before, but the thought of finding the treasure was overtaking my thoughts and attention to the point where I was not sleeping well. For months I focused on the poem, all the while trying to convince myself that the treasure was not the focus, but the adventure was. Finally, the time came. We had saved the money and were headed west. My wife, my son, and his wife loaded up the car and began the twenty-four-hour drive to Gardiner, Montana. The ironic thing was that I never prayed to God to help me find the treasure because inwardly, I believed it was not right to pray that prayer. Now, I honestly believe it was my guilt because I had seriously been too focused on the thought of if I find the treasure, my future is set, and I can enjoy the rest of my life. It was as if I was keeping God out of the whole process and putting

my faith and trust in money for my future and my happiness. Once we began hiking the trail, I was so focused on finding the treasure, I didn’t even realize my wife was having a minor medical issue on the trail. It was nothing major, but for crying out loud, I should have noticed it. It was my daughter-in-law who saw her struggling and stopped me. She was overheating because it had been pretty cold when we started, and she was a bit overdressed. As I was standing there waiting, I found myself getting impatient. I couldn’t even see the craziness that was going on inside of me because I had allowed the thought of that stupid treasure to take control of me. After she cooled off, she was better, and we continued up the trail. I noticed a car had pulled into the trailhead while we had been waiting, and I could see four people beginning the trail. They proceeded to gain on us as we had to take the trail at a slower pace. Eventually they caught up to us, and we stepped aside to let them . I was so angry that we didn’t hike faster and prevent them from ing. I saw that they had waterproof boots and a metal detector, and I about lost it. Never mind the fact that the treasure had not been found in ten years; I just knew these people were going to get ahead of us and find it. I even told my wife, “If they find it, you owe me two million dollars.” What kind of a monster had I become? It really did not hit me until we had finished looking around the creek and we were on our way back down the mountain. All the things I had thought and said came flooding in my mind. I could not even squeeze out an adequate apology because I was so embarrassed. I swore to all of them that we had not hiked this trail up because I did not recognize most of the trail on the way down. I was so out of it on the way up, I literally missed the entire trail and all of its beauty on the way up. How could I have allowed the thought of money to change not only my attitude but the way I treated the ones I love the most as well? Let me assure you, this experience has taught me the temptation of money can and does destroy the best of intentions and, if not kept under control, can destroy your relationship with God and the ones you love. Please do not think I am saying God will not bless you with material things such as wealth, because I do not believe that for one second. I do believe—no, I do know—that anything, including wealth, or the desire for wealth, can be a curse to you if you put it before God and the ones you love. God has created the perfect check and balance system for us to follow. Love God and keep him first in every aspect of your life. Love and respect the loved ones in your life and allow nothing except for God to be above them. Finally, keep everything else in your life in check behind God and the ones you love. If you

follow this guideline, you will have balance, and sin will be held in check because of God being first in your life.

Scripture Verses Luke chapter 16 verse 13. Verse 13: “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Matthew chapter 19 verse 23. Verse 23: “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.’” Proverbs chapter 23 verses 4 and 5. Verse 4: “Do not wear yourself out to get rich, have the wisdom to show restraint”. Verse 5: “Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.” Matthew chapter 6 verses 19–21. Verse 19: “Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.” Verse 20: “But store up for yourself treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Verse 21: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Ecclesiastes chapter 5 verse 10. Verse 10: “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.”

Prayer: Take a moment and ponder those things that are important in your life. Are your priorities in order? If not, spend a few moments asking God to help you refocus putting him first in all you say or do. Ask God to put a new sense of urgency in your heart for your family and the ones you love. , thoughts without actions when it comes to this means nothing. Your family and loved ones need to know they are important to you, and the best way to show them is through your actions. Finally, allow the remainder of things in your life to filter in behind your

relationship with God and your loved ones.

Trail number seven: Hidden Falls Trail via South Jenny Lake Trail (5.4 miles round trip) Location: Jenny Lake, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Directions: Jenny Lake can be accessed from the north or the south via the Teton Park Road. We were staying in Wilson, Wyoming, so we took Interstate 191 north from Jackson, Wyoming, to Moose Junction, which is where the southern end of Teton Park Road intersects. Take the Teton Park Road North to the South Jenny Lake Junction.

Trail Description: There is ample parking, restroom facilities, and even a visitor center at the southern end of Jenny Lake. The area offers many hiking adventures for novice to expert. A 7.1-mile loop trail around the entire lake sounds daunting; however, the fairly level trail allows for an enjoyable hike. The east side of the lake offers unparalleled views into Cascade Canyon while the western side offers cool forests. For those who do not wish to hike around the lake, a shuttle boat is offered for a fee that will take you from the southeast end of the lake to the northwest end of the lake. This cuts off over two miles of hiking, leaving only one-half a mile hike to Hidden Falls. We chose to take the hiking trail around the western side of the lake to get to Hidden Falls. There was a trail detour to start because of construction, but the detour was well marked, and we had no difficulties finding our way. After ing the boat dock, the trail becomes more forested, with glimpses of the lake protruding between the trees. There are several places along the trail where you can get good pictures of the lake. What amazed us the most was how clear the water was. We took several pictures of the colorful rocks in the water, and because the water was so clear, you could not even see the water in the picture. We also found a spot where we got an excellent reflection of the mountains off the lake. At about .9 (nine-tenths) of a mile, a side trail leads to Moose Ponds. Moose are often seen in and around this area. Just prior to getting to the side trail, we saw a moose feeding about thirty feet off the trail. It obviously was not concerned we were there as it never raised its head from feeding. The unbelievable aspect of our encounter with the moose was that we almost did not even see it. How can a five-foot-tall, one-thousand-pound-plus animal be virtually invisible from less than thirty feet away? Hidden in plain sight was this amazing creature, and we almost missed it. Shortly after the Moose Pond side trail, the main trail turns north and heads along the western side of Jenny Lake. A Y in the trail offers a horse trail to the left and the Jenny Lake trail to the right. Both trails will end up just shy of the Hidden Falls trail. We chose to stay on the Jenny Lake trail. From here, the elevation begins to gradually increase, taking you slightly above the lake surface. Even though the trail mostly follows the contour of the lake shore, there are areas that bring you into the forest, offering a peaceful solitude as you hike.

The continual elevation changes along the trail, while minimal brings you back to the lake surface and then takes you back slightly above it. This makes for ever-changing views and allows the hiking experience to be enhanced. After approximately 2.4 miles, you will come to Cascade Creek and a trail intersection. To the right is the west boat dock where the shuttle boat drops engers who have made the trip across the lake. To the left is the Hidden Falls trail. The trail to Hidden Falls is slightly more difficult because of its elevation gain over a relatively short distance; however, it is far from difficult and very much worth the effort. As you hike higher up the trail, the sound of rushing water continues to increase. You will swear the falls are right in front of you; however, you cannot see them. All you can see are enormous pine trees until you round the last corner, and suddenly, right in front of you is an amazing two-hundredfoot waterfall cascading down the mountain. Much like the moose hidden in plain sight, the much larger waterfall seems to be hiding, daring you to find it. In all seriousness, the waterfall is absolutely gorgeous. We hiked the trail in October, so I can only imagine what the waterfall would look like at the peak of snow melt in the summer. We returned to our vehicle via the same trail we had hiked up.

Devotional: Hidden Gifts of Beauty The overwhelming theme of the hike we took around Jenny Lake was one of hidden gifts of beauty. From the multicolored canvas of rocks—hidden, if you will—by the crystal-clear mountain water of Jenny lake, to the moose hidden in plain sight by the side of the trail, and ultimately to the absolutely gorgeous waterfall playing hide-and-seek behind the grove of pine trees. As I prayed for a message from God about this trail, it was as if he simply said, “Open your eyes and your heart.” There is beauty hidden not only all around us, but within us as well. For many reasons, this beauty is oftentimes not easily seen. Sometimes the business of our lives keeps our vision blurred to all except what is right in front of us to complete the task we are focused on. Many of us live from task to task, never stopping to look through the peripheral haze of life to recognize the beauty that surrounds us. While God has created external physical beauty (nature) for us to enjoy as well as for us to his great love for us, he has also given us internal beauty in the form of gifts and talents. Some of us recognize these gifts and talents and openly share them with the world, while others either do not recognize the fact they have a gift or talent, or they are too afraid to acknowledge them and keep them hidden. Fear of rejection or condemnation is a very powerful force and can cripple even the thought of reaching out to demonstrate a gift or talent. Many of God’s people are not utilizing the gifts and talents God has blessed them with because they are crippled by this fear. The Bible tells us God has given many gifts of the Spirit to those who believe as he has seen fit. These gifts include the spirit of wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, discernment of spirits, speaking in other tongues, and the interpretation of tongues. God hid these gifts within our spirits for us to use as he leads to build up and edify his kingdom. These beautiful hidden gifts are meant to be shared with the lost and dying world as well as our fellow believers. If you feel God has blessed you with a specific gift, please do not allow the deceit and the lies of the evil one to prevent you from sharing your gift. Do not let the fear of failure, condemnation, or judgment stop you from fulfilling God’s plan for your life. If the God of the universe has given you a specific gift or talent, it would be a safe bet that he expects you to use it to glorify him and the kingdom of Heaven. For those of you who do not feel or believe God has given

you a specific gift or talent for the kingdom, you are nowhere near off the hook. Every believer has something very special and beautiful hidden in their heart that is required to be shared. That, my friends, is the word of God. The Bible tells us, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I may not sin against you.” Please tell me, what if anything is more beautiful than the word of God? We have hidden God’s word in our hearts not to be forgotten, but to be guarded, cherished, and most importantly shared. My friends, you may not have been blessed with the voice of an angel performing solos in your church’s Christmas play, but you have been given a voice to share the good news to a lost and dying world. You may not have been called to be a preacher of the gospel, but you have been called to minister to a hurting coworker. God’s beautiful word is hidden in your heart, and I implore you to allow God’s spirit of boldness to guide you when it needs to be shared with a lost and dying soul. Let me ask you a simple question, if not you, who?

Scripture Verses Psalms chapter 119 verse 11. Verse 11: “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Mark chapter 4 verse 22. Verse 22: “For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.” Romans chapter 11 verse 29. Verse 29: “For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.” 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 10. Verse 10: “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” James chapter 1 verse 17. Verse 17: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

Prayer: If you are confident God has given you a gift to serve others in any capacity, pray that God will continue to give you opportunities to use your gift as his will sees fit. If you believe God has given you a gift to serve but are afraid to take the step of faith and reach out to use it, pray that God will give you the righteous boldness to overcome your fears. With God, all things are possible, even stepping out of our comfort zones. Finally, for all of us, pray that God will give us the opportunity to share the beautiful gift of God’s word we have hidden in our hearts to comfort the hurting souls we encounter on our journey we call life.

Trail number eight: Grubb Ridge/Cope Hollow Loop Trail (9.5-mile loop) Location: Charles C. Deam Wilderness (Hoosier National Forest), Indiana

Directions: The entrance to Charles C. Deam Wilderness is located on Indiana State Road 446 just south of Lake Monroe. If you are coming from the north, it is approximately sixteen miles south of Indiana State Road 46 in Bloomington, Indiana. If you are coming from the south, it is approximately fifteen miles north of Indiana State Road 50. Either way you come, there is a large sign indicating the wilderness area on the east side of Indiana State Road 446. From Indiana State Road 446, you will turn east on to Tower Ridge Road, which will take you to the Charles C. Deam Wilderness.

Trail Description: The Charles C. Deam Wilderness area is actually very beautiful. While many of the trails within the wilderness area have minimal elevation changes, the topography of the area is quite remarkable. Located at the south side of Lake Monroe, the largest manmade reservoir in the state of Indiana, the steepness of the ravines between the ridge tops is quite impressive. Because Charles C. Deam is part of Hoosier National Forest and not a state or national park, you can go off trail and enjoy the entire area. Speaking from previous hiking experiences here, I can testify to the steepness of the ravines. All I can say is wow and be careful. We began this hike by parking at the Blackwell Campground, which is located on the western side just as you enter the wilderness area. The trailhead for the Grubb Ridge Trail portion of this loop trail can be found on the far east end of the campground. There are also restroom facilities located here. We hiked this trail in late December, and the windy twenty-seven-degree wintry day made for quite the chilly start. The old saying of you can always take clothes off if you get warm, but you can’t put clothes on if you are cold but don’t have them has always proven to be true when hiking. The hat and gloves I wore at the beginning of our hike quickly found a home riding in my backpack. They did, however, become useful again when we stopped to rest and when we ate lunch later in the day. Just a heads-up: most of the trails in Charles C. Deam are multiuse trails, meaning horses are allowed on them. Let me tell you, there are a lot of horses that use these trails. I really like horses, but they can sure tear up a hiking trail. From the beginning of our hike, we encountered multiple areas where we had to go off trail to go around the mud bogs covering the trail. Even though it was cold when we started, the weather in the area had been warmer than normal, so the ground was not frozen, which resulted in all of the mud. The Grubb Ridge Trail portion of the loop we hiked pretty much parallels Tower Ridge Road for about 3.5 miles. The elevation change is minimal, and if it had not been for all of the mud, the trail would have been quite nice and peaceful. At about the 3.5-mile mark, the trail crossed Tower Ridge Road, and we were supposed to pick up the Cope Hollow Trail on the other side of the road. According to our map, there was supposed to be a trail intersection with the Cope Hollow Trail going to the right and the Martin Hollow Trail going to the left. Well, we never found the trail

intersection, and somehow, we had gotten off trail totally. There was a combination of issues that led to our dilemma. First, so many people go off trail in the wilderness area exploring, hunting, and who knows what else, that there appear to be trails everywhere. Second, the actual trails are marked mainly at the trailheads and intersections but nowhere else. Third, since we were hiking in the winter, all of the fallen leaves were covering the ground, making it virtually impossible for us to see the trail, or so we thought. Finally, the map reader (me) did a pretty poor job of navigation, which ultimately led to us being lost, or should I say temporarily misguided. After all, guys never get lost; right, ladies? We apparently had been hiking a creek bed and thought it was the trail. The farther we hiked, the wetter the ground became, and ultimately, we realized we were not on the trail after all. Thanks to Google Maps we were able to find our way back to the Cope Hollow Trail, which actually was not covered in leaves and easily distinguishable from the forest floor. Once on the trail we continued through the peaceful forest, enjoying the quietness a winter hike provides. The second half of our hike was much nicer than the first. We came upon a wooden tepee structure as we hiked. We tried to figure out what in the world it was doing there and who would have possibly built it in such an out-of-the-way place. We decided it must have been Sasquatch, so after a couple of pictures, we continued our hike. We stopped and ate lunch at a small pond and realized how cold it was actually getting. We decided to pack up and hustle our way around the rest of the loop, which brought us back to where we had parked our car.

Devotional: The Path of Life—the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly) Before you all lose your hair from scratching your head trying to figure out why I selected this little obscure hiking trail in the middle of a relatively small wilderness area, please one thing. It is not the trail that is important, but the message God wants to share. Quite honestly, God can give you a message as you walk to your car from work if you ask. Since you are all my friends, I will share a secret. This was the first trail I hiked after I realized God wanted me to write this story, so this was the first trail where I specifically prayed for God to give me a message to share. Not knowing exactly what to expect, I hiked like I normally would, secretly hoping a bush would catch fire, and the voice of God would say, “This is what I want you to share…” Well, that didn’t happen, but God did—in a way only God can—inspire a message for me to share. It seemed that from the very beginning of this hike everything was against us. From the sunless, cold, windy wintry weather (the only thing missing was freezing rain or snow), to the almost imible mud pits, and ultimately losing our way and yes, getting lost. It felt as if Satan was trying to prevent us from finishing this hike. What I didn’t realize, until well after we had finished the hike, was that sometimes God, in his infinite wisdom, will allow obstacles in our lives to get our attention or teach us a lesson. This can often be confusing because it can feel just like when Satan is attacking us. Here is a tidbit of wisdom that will be a revelation to some and common knowledge to others. Regardless, put it in your back pocket and keep it handy. It honestly does not matter whether the obstacles in your life come because God wants to get your attention as a teaching moment, or they are an attack from Satan in an attempt to distract your walk with God. The important thing to is, God is in control, and as long as you continue to walk with him through, around, over or even under the obstacles, you will come out the other side either walking with God or in his loving arms—wiser and stronger than before. Think about this for a minute. What is more important, who put the obstacle in your path, or who you are going to face it with? Who you are going to overcome it with, and what you are going to learn from it? Why is it, we as human beings, so often try and take care of the obstacles in our lives by our own strength and knowledge? Do we think so highly of ourselves or so little of God? Do we not believe God cares for every aspect of our lives from the minor speed bumps we

encounter to the major life altering catastrophes? I think back to the trail we hiked and the incessant mud pits we endured at the beginning. We were following the map, I knew the way, and by golly we were going to make it. We made it all right, halfway around the trail. It took twice as long as it should have, and we ended up lost, even with the map. They say hindsight is twenty-twenty, and I say I hate it when they are right. when I described the trail up above? The part about how Tower Ridge Road paralleled the hiking trail? Well, I never even thought about taking the road instead of getting covered in mud and losing our way because of my stubborn blindness to a better way, a clearer path, staring me right in the face. Finally, when a little humility kicked in and the reins loosened on me having to control things, wisdom took over, and we sought the advice of someone much more intelligent than we had been—Google Earth. Back on the trail, we actually enjoyed the rest of our hike. Now, before you jump to conclusions and take away the idea that I am telling you to trust in Google over trusting in God, nothing could be farther from the truth. My point is, when you find yourself walking through this life and come upon the bad and the ugly in your path, it most certainly would be wiser to look to someone who is much wiser and more capable than yourself to help you along the way. Who else is wiser and more capable than God? No one.

Scripture Verses Matthew chapter 7 verses 13 and 14. Verse 13: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.” Verse 14: “But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Proverbs chapter 3 verse 6. Verse 6: ‘In all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Psalm chapter 16 verse 11. Verse 11: “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with the eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Psalm chapter 119 verse 105. Verse 105: “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”

Isaiah chapter 42 verse 16. Verse 16: “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.”

Prayer: The first and most important safety tip I can give you about hiking is to never hike alone. That advice carries over so perfectly when we talk about walking the path of life as well. Never walk your path of life alone. Take a moment and ask God to help you give control to him as you walk your path of life. You will find that by allowing God to help you along the way and even sometimes carry you, the stresses of life will fade, and the joy and peace of his presence will fill the emptiness that oftentimes overwhelms you.

Trail number nine: The Faith Trail (Mileage = Birth - Eternity) Location: Anywhere and everywhere you are

Directions: This trail can be located wherever you place your feet and in whatever thought you think.

Trail Description: The Faith Trail is unlike any other trail you will ever hike. The difficulty level ranges from lying in your bed easy to nearly impossible, or at least it seems that way at times. While the beginning of the trail is the same for everyone, the topography of the trail can, and often does, change for the majority of people as they continue on. Beginning with a smooth level grade, the Faith Trail will remind you of walking through a pine forest with discarded pine needles covering the trail. If you have never experienced this, each step feels as if you are walking on clouds, and the quietness creates an environment of peace and contentment. Interestingly enough, this is how God designed the Faith Trail to be for his creation of mankind from the very beginning. And not just the start of the trail, but its entirety. We will discuss this further during our devotional. The description of the Faith Trail from this point on has to be explained in a much more generic format, in that the trail will be different for each person. What I can tell you is that the Faith Trail will be a series of extremely difficult accents, taking you to the pinnacles of the highest mountains and very treacherous descents, sending you to the lowest valleys. Regardless of how your Faith Trail plays out, we will all end up at a crossroads. One path leads to an eternity of peace and contentment in the presence of God, and the other to an eternity of pain and suffering outside the presence of God. As I am sure you have already figured out, the Faith Trail is not an actual physical trail; however, let me assure you, it is a very real trail of which each of us will hike in our lifetime.

Devotional: Faith Is Truth, so Simply Believe We have talked about faith many times on our journey together. However, I would like to do a quick comparison of a dictionary definition of faith and a biblical definition of faith. According to Google, faith is defined as a strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof. Let’s take that definition a step further and define apprehension. Apprehension is defined as anxiety or fear. So according to the Google definition, faith is a strong belief in God based on spiritual anxiety and fear, not proof. Now let’s take a look at the biblical definition of faith, and I can think of no better place than in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” In other words, believe God is real, and believe through faith that what he said in his word is true. There is no mention of anxiety or fear because those two concepts come straight from the pit of hell and not from a loving and merciful God. God has never forced—nor will he ever force—you through any type of anxiety or fear to have faith in him. He offers his unconditional love to all those who come to him in true faith and belief what his word says is true. Let’s dissect the Faith Trail a little and try to understand it just a bit more. When I wrote about the Faith Trail being the same for everyone when they first start out, I was referring to the period of time when we all had childlike faith. When we were young and simply believed what we were told. This is the same type of faith Adam and Eve had prior to their disobedience to God’s will. Their simple faith allowed them to believe in God without question, and the absence of evil did not allow their free will to be deceived. The Faith Trail was a glorious—and might I say—easy trail to hike. That all changed when they sinned against God and allowed the knowledge of evil to be loosed on mankind. The deceitfulness of the evil one has been attacking our faith ever since making the Faith Trail the most difficult trail in existence. The knowledge of evil, plus free will, in addition to the influence of Satan, allows our faith to be tested in some cases and destroyed in others. As we continue our hike up the Faith Trail, gone is the pine-needle-coated trail. In its place we find ourselves struggling through muddy bogs and over root-entangled terrain, all the while fighting for every inch of elevation gain. Only after clawing our way up rocky precipices will we finally find ourselves at the pinnacle of the mountain. We barely have

time to rest and even less time to enjoy the magnificence of God’s beauty before we begin the slippery slope down the other side into the deep, dark valleys where, hopefully, we start the process all over again. Why? Why do we allow ourselves—or should I say, our faith—to be attacked so easily? The answer, my friends, is simple and right in front of us. The childlike faith possessed by Adam and Eve before the fall and within us all before we allowed ourselves, or should I say our faith, to be attacked. Will having childlike faith stop Satan from attacking your faith and prevent you from having to fight your way up to a mountaintop experience? Nope. I am sorry to say that evil has been unleashed upon this earth, and because of that, we will have trials and tribulations. But having childlike faith will allow you to enjoy the journey up the mountain, the mountaintop experience, and even the trip down the other side. And believe it or not, childlike faith will enable you to rejoice even while you are in the deepest, darkest valleys of your journey. Why is that, you so curiously ask? Because having childlike faith in the God who created you and unconditionally loves you ensures that he will be with you while you are climbing the mountain, while you are enjoying the mountaintop experience, while you are sliding down the other side, and most importantly while you are in the deepest, darkest valleys. With that unwavering childlike faith you gain knowledge and certainty that God is with you always. You can learn to enjoy the entire journey and not just the brief moments on the mountaintop. With all that said, I believe Mr. or Mrs. Google has their definition of faith a little—no, a lot—wrong. There is absolutely no anxiety or fear in true faith of the one true God.

Scripture Verses Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1. Verse 1: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Matthew chapter 18 verses 2–6. Verse 2: “He [Jesus] called a little child and had him stand among them.” Verse 3: “And He said, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.’” Verse 4: ‘Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Verse 5: “And whoever welcomes a little

child like this in my name welcomes me.” Verse 6: “But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” Luke chapter 7 verse 6. Verse 6: “He (Jesus) replied, ‘If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and planted in the sea and it will obey you.’” 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 7. Verse 7: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Prayer: Childlike faith is not ignorance. It is simply accepting God and God’s word for who he is and what his word says. Stop questioning and only believe. Take a few minutes and spend time talking to God about your faith. If you have had doubts, lay them at the foot of the cross and walk away. Let God’s truths replace those thoughts of doubt. Doubt, after all, is the opposite of faith and is merely a tool used by Satan to distract you from God’s truths.

Trail number ten: The Laura Hare Nature Preserve Loop Trail at Downey Hill (4.7-mile loop) Location: Brown County, Indiana

Directions: You can get to the Laura Hare Nature Preserve by taking Indiana State Road 46 either eastbound from Nashville, Indiana, or westbound from Columbus, Indiana. From the intersection of Indiana State Road 135 and Indiana State Road 46 in Nashville Indiana, you will travel east on State Road 46, approximately 5.5 miles to Valley Branch Road. Turn right on to Valley Branch Road and continue south for approximately 1.5 miles. On your left will be a gravel pull-in with a small gravel parking lot. From Interstate 65 in Columbus Indiana, you will travel west on State Road 46, approximately twenty-six miles. Turn left on to Valley Branch Road, and continue south for approximately 1.5 miles. On your left will be a gravel pull-in with a small gravel parking lot.

Trail Description: The Laura Hare Nature Preserve is somewhat small, approximately six hundred acres, or about one square mile. What it lacks in size it makes up for in beauty. The rugged preserve adds to neighboring protected lands making quite a large area of contiguous forest, protected forever because of the kindness of those individuals who love nature and want to see it preserved. Just to its west, this little preserve also sets nestled in the loving arms of the sixteen-thousand acres of Brown County State Park. The topography of the preserve, as well as the park, was carved out by the glacial melt waters, which created narrow ridges, steep slopes, and deep gullies. A loop trail was created within the preserve by the Hoosier Hikers Council, totally approximately 4.7 miles. A one-mile gravel road runs the length of the preserve, dissecting the loop trail for those desiring to hike a shorter distance. There are also two additional cut-through trails along the loop, making either for shorter hikes or additional adventure. Before I go any further, I would like to acknowledge the entity that created the Laura Hare Nature Preserve. The Sycamore Land Trust is a nonprofit conservation organization founded in 1990. They serve Southern Indiana from Morgan County to the Ohio River and to date are responsible for protecting 116 properties totaling 10,030 acres. Without the efforts of environmentalists like the Sycamore Land Trust, these lands would be lost for us and the generations to come. Let’s get back on the trail. From the trailhead, you can choose to hike the trail clockwise or counterclockwise. I have hiked the trail both ways and each offer a combination of forested ridge hiking with a series of switchbacks leading to creek beds. The clockwise hike does present a steeper descent to the creek bottom which is something to think about if you choose to hike counterclockwise. The two times I hiked this trail, the creek beds were mostly dry, so no need for worrying about wet shoes. I would, however, assume these creek beds would contain flowing water during the wetter spring months. The trail is very well marked with white blazes, so there is no possibility of making a wrong turn and getting lost. The maintenance of the trail is second to none in comparison to other trails I have hiked. There were no blowdowns across the trail, and the blowdowns that had been across the trail were cut, leaving the trail wide open. Since this is a nature preserve, camping is not allowed. While I understand the reasoning, it sure would be a

perfect place to pitch a tent, lay back listening to the sounds of the many birds, and fall fast asleep.

Devotional: Perseverance Builds Strong Bones, Muscles, and of Course Faith) While the name of this trail is the Laura Hare Nature Preserve Loop Trial, I call it the Perseverance Trail. Before I get to the reasoning behind that, I want to take a look at the word perseverance. Perseverance can be defined as a persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. Biblically, there are many promises to those who persevere and remain steadfast during trials, and once they have stood, they will receive the blessings promised them by God the Father. To understand why it is necessary to persevere through the trials and tribulations in our lives, you first must understand the impact perseverance has on our faith. Much like amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, which in turn build our muscles and make us physically strong, perseverance is the building blocks of our faith, which in turn make us spiritually strong. Without persevering through the difficult times in our lives and relying on God to get us to the other side, our faith cannot grow, and our spiritual health will fail. Watered-down and weak faith can only lead to a defeated soul susceptible to Satan’s many tricks and schemes. Our faith must stay strong, so I invite you to make regular visits to the perseverance gym. Trials and difficulties are not something anyone would willingly wish for, but remind yourself, as I face this trial with an unwavering faith in God my Father, I will overcome and my faith in God will be made stronger. Now, why in the world would I call this trail the Perseverance Trail? About a year and a half ago, I suffered a devastating injury that unbeknownst to me would lead to a roller-coaster journey of my perseverance and faith. I slipped on a wet step, and my entire 210 pounds landed straight on a certain part of my anatomy. The pain was excruciating, but being in the presence of two of my sons, I simply got up and pretended everything was okay. Over the course of the next several months, the pain in my lower back got so bad it started to alter the way I walked. And before you ask, no, I had not yet gone to the doctor about it. During this time, I could not hike, and it was about all I could do to walk from my car to the office. I finally started to have tingling and numbness down my legs, and at that point, it was time to call the doctor. A year had ed since I had fallen, and I began to feel as if I may never be able to hike again. I was scared. I had been praying hard. Probably harder than any other

time in my life, except maybe for when my son had his accident (another story for another time). After four injections and two extensive rounds of physical therapy, there was no improvement. It had actually gotten worse. I began losing strength in both legs and could no longer squat down and get back up. I could not walk more than a block before it felt as if I had to throw my legs forward from my hips. It had been a year and a half, and even though my faith never wavered, fear had begun to grip my entire being and I cried out to God, “How much longer do I have to persevere?” His answer, though not audible, was as long as it takes. I believe that was the most important lesson I learned during the entire ordeal. God’s timing is perfect and complete and may not fit in to what we desire or even understand. Not long after, the answer to my prayers came in quite an unusual way. Surgery seemed like the only answer, at least according to the doctors I had seen. I made the appointment to see a neurosurgeon, knowing this was not what I wanted and believing this was not the answer God had for me. While waiting for my appointment, a good friend of mine recommended I see a chiropractor. She said, “Why not? Nothing else has worked.” Never having been to a chiropractor, I was skeptical at best and probably more scared after watching chiropractic videos on YouTube. I began searching the Internet in my area for a chiropractor, and in perfect God fashion, I came across one whose bio said, “Enjoys hiking in the mountains.” That was it, decision made. There is more to this story, but I have rambled long enough. The summary is, after just one month of adjustments and decompression therapy, the strength began to come back to my legs. After 6 weeks, I hiked 4.7 miles on the most glorious trail I have ever hiked, the Perseverance Trail. The praise in my heart and joy in my spirit was overwhelming. I have shed many tears over this experience. Most of them out of thanksgiving for what God has taught me about perseverance and, of course, his unfailing love for me. The moral to this story is that we all must face trials and tribulations in our lives. Instead of dreading them, try to recognize the purpose surrounding them, and if there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight, or you just cannot find a reason why, that the God of the universe is right there with you. He will not leave you. He will not forsake you. In his perfect timing, he will bring you through: either walking beside you or carrying you. And I promise, your faith will be stronger for persevering.

Scripture Verses James chapter 1 verses 2–4. Verse 2: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.” Verse 3: “because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” Verse 4: “Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James chapter 5 verse 11. Verse 11: “As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about.” Exodus chapter 18 verse 23. Verse 23: “God will direct you, you will be able to endure.” Romans chapter 12 verse 12. Verse 12: “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” Matthew chapter 24 verse 13. Verse 13: “But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

Prayer: No one desires pain. No one relishes in suffering. But understanding that through the difficult times in our lives, our faith is made stronger as we persevere by focusing on God’s promises, we can and we will make it through. Take a few moments and ask God to help you see his promises during the storms in your life. Ask God to strengthen you and help you persevere in those times of trouble. The storm will , and the waves will calm, leaving a beautiful sunny day in the presence of Almighty God.

Trail number eleven: Abrams Falls (via Cooper Road / Little Bottoms / Abrams Creek Trails for approximately eleven miles round trip) Location: Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Abram Creek Campground)

Directions: From Chihowee, Tennessee, head east on US 129 S for approximately .1 (onetenth) of a mile. Turn left onto Happy Valley Road and continue for 5.9 miles. Turn right onto Abrams Creek Road. Follow Abrams Creek Road, and you will the ranger station on your left. There is a small gravel parking lot on your right just past the ranger station. If you are not staying in the campground, this is where you will park to start your hike.

Trail Description: You will begin your hike by continuing on Abrams Creek Road toward Abrams Creek Campground. The sound of Abrams Creek will immediately greet you as you begin. You will enter the campground in approximately .4 (four-tenths) of a mile. The campground was closed when we hiked, yet another victim of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, so we had to walk around the gate at the entrance. While I have never stayed in the Abrams Creek Campground, it appears to be a very serene and peaceful place, located right beside the harmonious Abrams Creek. I can only imagine the restful sleep one could enjoy listening to the concert performed by the rushing water. The trailhead for Cooper Road is located at the end of the main road through the campground. Since the Cooper Road Trail used to be an old wagon road, the trail, at least the part we hiked, is quite wide and for the most part, smooth. The slight elevation changes, and the meandering layout of the trail make for a quiet, relaxing walk through the mountain timberland. Approximately half a mile up the trail, Kingfisher Creek (a small tributary of the larger Abrams Creek), crosses the trail. Rock hopping is a must since the creek almost feels like it is flowing on the trail for a bit. No worries, even if you cannot rock hop, the crossing is not difficult. At approximately .9 (nine-tenths) of a mile, you will reach the intersection with the Little Bottoms Trail on your right. The ease of the Cooper Road Trail will quickly fade as you begin the Little Bottoms Trail. The initial climb is quite steep but not excessively long. Almost immediately after reaching the ridge, you will begin your descent to the banks of Abrams Creek, where you will hike along the creek for a while. This was a definite lifesaver, which I will explain later in the devotional. Once you reach campsite seventeen, you will begin another ascent leaving Abrams Creek far below. There are a couple of vistas in which you can see glimpses of Abrams Creek in the valley below once you have reached to top of your ascent. At 2.3 miles (3.6 miles total), you will reach the intersection with the Hatcher Mountain Trail. To the left, Hatcher Mountain will eventually link back up with Cooper Road for a loop trail, leading you back to Abrams Creek Campground. To the right, Hatcher Mountain Trail will take you to the intersection of Hannah Mountain Trail and Abrams Falls Trail in approximately .2 (two-tenths) of a mile. At the intersection, turn left onto the Abrams Falls

Trail, and in 1.7 miles you will be at the falls. The final 1.7 miles will be a continual descent until you reach the falls. Keep in mind, this means a continual ascent on your way back out. The entire trail is a series of ascents and descents, which normally would not have been too bad, except for the fact it was ninetyfive degrees with almost 100 percent humidity when we did this hike. I will address this in the devotional as well. To say Abrams Falls is beautiful would be an understatement. This is a must-see for anyone who has not been there before. We have made the hike several times from the Cades Cove access and are never disappointed at the magnificence of the falls. The people who visit the falls, well, that is a totally different story. Please allow me a few minutes to rant and release some pent-up frustration about the hiking etiquette of certain people. Because the Cades Cove access is a much shorter and easier hike to the falls, it is a very popular destination and can be quite busy at times. What people seem to forget is that regardless of the way in which you hike in, the falls are a minimum of 2.5 miles from the nearest facilities. I totally understand that when nature calls and you are 2.5 miles from the nearest facility, you are going to have to go in the woods. The problem is, when we were making the final approach to the falls from the direction we came in, it looked like a toxic waste dump. I kid you not, every tree from two feet off the trail to twenty feet off the trail had human waste and toilet paper by its trunk. I was so angry I almost forgot I was a Christian. Then I realized that people either have no common sense, or maybe they just don’t know the proper etiquette for using God’s great outhouse. I still believe it is the no common sense, but anyway, I will provide the commonly accepted etiquette for those of you who do not know. If you find yourself in the great outdoors and nature calls, make sure you go at least two hundred feet off trail and away from any water source. Dig a hole at least six inches deep. Do your business and then bury it. It is recommended you pack out the toilet paper; however, seeing as most people will not do that, at least bury it in the hole. Honestly, no one wants to see or smell what you leave behind, except maybe for a bear, but that would be for a whole different reason. I will leave my rant there and hope it gives proper guidance to leave no trace. Return to your vehicle the same way you hiked in.

Devotional: Easy-to-Follow Directions for Hiking the Pathway to Heaven Just like all of the other devotionals in this book, I never began to write anything until I knew it was a clear message from God. Of course, I had prayed before we started our hike, and I knew if and when God had a message for me to share, he would reveal it to me. The days turned to weeks, and before I knew it, it had been over a month and still nothing. Just so you know, God doesn’t call me on my cell and say, share this or share that. It is more like a thought or a revelation that is very clear in my mind, and it usually comes when I am not even thinking about the trail or the hike, as was the case in this instance. I was getting ready for work one morning and while staring in the mirror in my groggy state, the message came to me clear as day. So let me begin. We started this hike at about nine thirty in the morning, and the temperature was already approaching ninety degrees. The humidity? Well, let’s just say the sweat started before I did. I almost decided we should not hike the eleven miles round trip to the falls, but we had driven for over an hour to get there, so off we went. We had three bottles of water and a Powerade apiece. Surely that would be enough. As I stated in the trail description, there are two ways to get the Abrams Falls. One way is from the Cades Cove Loop and the other from the Abrams Creek Campground. For those of you who do not know, Cades Cove is one of the busiest and—might I add—one of the most beautiful areas of the GSMNP. Rich in history and animal life, people flock to this area. The trail from Cades Cove Loop to Abrams Falls is much shorter and much easier than the trail from Abrams Creek Campground. Five miles compared to eleven miles, to be approximately exact. As you can imagine, the vast majority of people hike to the falls from Cades Cove Loop. We chose the trail less travelled by for that reason as well as the fact we had not hiked any of the trails leading from Abrams Creek Campground to the falls. I have to it, the combination of trails we hiked, in and of themselves, were not that difficult. They were very diverse in their topography and their scenery, but overall not what I would call difficult. We have hiked over eleven miles on a few occasions, but never had we had to put forth such a laborious effort as this time. ittedly, this hike kicked our butts. So the question is, if the trails were not any more difficult than trails we

had hiked in the past, what made this hike so much more difficult? The answer lies not in the trails, but in the obstacles that were added to the hike. The heat, the humidity, the lack of sufficient hydration, and fear. Fear? How does fear play a role in making a hike difficult? The heat, humidity, and lack of hydration were all physical attributes that we were dealing with, but fear bores deep to your soul. While a healthy fear of certain things can have positive effects, the primary purpose of fear is to destroy. With over two miles left to hike and almost out of water, we were in bad shape. My wife began to cry, saying she didn’t feel well, and I felt just awful for dragging her out in conditions I knew were not the greatest. Fear had us in its grips. We both knew the only answer to our dilemma was God. We prayed and asked God to give us the strength to make it back to our car. By faith in him, we knew things were going to be all right. We knew the trail dropped back down to Abrams Creek, and I ed I had my water-filter system in my backpack, so we had hope. Faith and hope will always put fear in its place. As we hiked on, we began to feel cool breezes along the trail. It is an amazing feeling, knowing that we serve a God who is not just sitting in Heaven screaming out “Thou shalt nots,” but who also actually listens to the prayers of his people and more than listens, answers. Even something as small as a cool breeze for two hurting children who made bad decisions. We made it back to Abrams Creek where I filtered some water and we rested at one of the back-country campsites. While still pretty exhausted, we were rejuvenated enough to finish the trail and make it back to our car. Besides the obvious that I have already stated, I think God wanted to reveal more to me and ultimately you, in regards to this trail. The Bible is clear when it states we must enter heaven through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction. And many enter through it, but small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it, according to Matthew chapter 7 verses 13 and 14. I never fully understood this scripture because I thought with all of the believers in the world, surely there will be many people that make it to heaven. But that morning, when I was looking in the mirror, it all became very clear. The path to heaven is straight, clear, and in and of itself, not difficult. The reason being, God was very clear when he laid out his plan to bridge the gap between sinful mankind and his holy presence. Simply put, believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, lived a sinless life, died a sacrificial death in our stead, and rose

from the dead fulfilling the curse of death God had placed on mankind. Do this, and you will spend eternity with God in heaven. This path has not changed from the time God designed it. What then makes the path so difficult as it causes so many to lose their way and fail to find it? The answer, just like the trail we hiked, is not the path to heaven, but the obstacles we all face as we go through life and try to stay on the path. We are what waver, not the path. The vast majority of the reasons why we lose our way is the fact that we allow our flesh to control our destination instead of allowing our spirit to guide our path. It is human nature, in the flesh, to take the easy way out. And oftentimes this is directly opposite of the path God created. Satan has no greater joy than when he can influence someone, especially a believer, into leaving God’s path and straying in to the world with all the other lost souls. Do you know why most people will not make it to heaven? Because people get comfortable when they stray off God’s path. The biggest reason for this is because Satan no longer has concern for them and will not bother them once they are lost wandering in the world. My advice to you is to check yourself and rejoice when Satan is throwing all hell your way. That should tell you that you are on the right path and Satan is trying his hardest to make you lose your way. If you are content and feel as if Satan is not concerned with you, you better pull out the original GPS (God positioning satellite—the Bible) and check your current location. My guess is you have gotten off God’s path. The wonderful news is that God’s path to heaven has never changed and is easily found if you know where to look.

Scripture Verses Matthew chapter 7 verses 13 and 14. Verse 13: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.” Verse 14: “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” John chapter 14 verse 6. Verse 6: “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” Proverbs chapter 3 verses 5 and 6. Verse 5: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” Verse 6: “In all your ways submit to Him, and He will make yours paths straight.”

Psalms chapter 23 verse 4. Verse 4: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Romans chapter 16 verse 17. Verse 17: “I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause division and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.”

Prayer: Please take a few minutes and do a self-assessment. Are you on the path that leads to heaven? Only you and God know the answer. If not, pray that God helps you find your way and that he helps you see how very simple it is to get back on the path. Even more so, how very simple it is to stay there. Allow your spirit, not your flesh, to guide you along your path here on this earth, and you will be surprised how your earthly path and heavenly path can be and should be one and the same.

Trail number twelve: Big Creek Trail (10.4 miles out and back) Location: Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Big Creek Campground)

Directions: The trailhead for the Big Creek Trail is located in the Big Creek access area of the park. The easiest way to get there is from I-40. Approximately sixty miles east of Knoxville and fifty miles west of Asheville is the Waterville road exit (number 451). After exiting I-40, turn onto Tobes Creek Road, right if coming from Knoxville or left if coming from Asheville. Cross over the Pigeon River and veer left onto Waterville Road. Continue 2.1 miles to a four-way intersection. Proceed straight through the intersection, and you will enter the Big Creek access area. Follow this road to where it ends in the Big Creek picnic area. This is about three miles from the interstate. Just prior to entering the parking area, you will the trailhead for Big Creek Trail on your right.

Trail Description: Please do not let the length of this trail deter you from enjoying the beauty it has to offer. Even if you do not complete the entire trail, Big Creek will reward you with a magnificent experience, including two natural wonders, Midnight Hole and Mouse Creek Falls. The trail itself follows an old railroad grade, which was built in the early 1900s to carry lumber out of the mountains for the logging industry. For this reason, the trail is wide, and its gradual ascent offers a pleasant hike. The trail does get rather rocky in areas, so watch your footing. The first mile or so of your journey will take you high above the Big Creek picnic area and away from Big Creek. This portion of the hike will take you through beautiful mountain forests, while not old growth because of the logging that occurred in the early 1900s, but beautiful nonetheless. At about 1.3 miles the trail will up with Big Creek, and it will be your constant companion for several miles. This is not a bad thing because not only do you get to enjoy the wonderful sounds of the creek, but you are also rewarded with many other wondrous sights, which include cascades, waterfalls (both big and small), and boulders the size of a cabin. Probably the most interesting and in my opinion, the most gorgeous sight along the trail, is the Midnight Hole. Midnight Hole is a deep, emeraldgreen pool at the base of a small six-foot waterfall that flows between two large boulders and is located approximately 1.5 miles from the trailhead. There is no sign indicating its location, but you will definitely know when you have found it. What makes it so interesting is the shallow water surrounding the pool is so clear, it looks as if you are seeing the stones at the bottom of the creek through a pane of glass. Then, as you get to the edge of the pool, the clarity disappears into the darkness. Amazing, yet somewhat scary at the same time. As you continue up the trail, you will come to a hitching post for horses at about two miles. A little past this, there is a small side trail on the left, which offers a viewing area for Mouse Creek Falls. Again, there is no sign indicating the location, so just pay attention after you the hitching post, and you will not miss it. Mouse Creek Falls is a fortyfoot falls flowing into Big Creek from the opposite bank. There are many large boulders in the creek and a perfect spot to sit, have a snack, and enjoy the beauty and coolness of the falls, which is exactly what we did. From here the trail

continues on for another three miles, crossing Big Creek and leading up to Backcountry Campsite 37 and Walnut Bottoms. While views of the creek are often obscured on the upper section of the trail, we did manage to wind our way through and see some of the largest boulders we have ever seen. Since we were hiking this trail as an in and out, we returned to our car the same way we hiked in.

Devotional: Fear Not the Darkness Like many of the trails I hike, especially the more popular ones, I like to hike them early in the morning. I do this to avoid the obvious crowds, but there is more of a purpose then just avoiding people. I like to experience the trail for what it is and what it has to offer. This is sometimes difficult when there are a lot of people creating noise and chaos. Big Creek trail can be quite busy, so therefore, we chose to hike it early. While the entire trail offers a peace and serenity that will calm a weary soul, I was especially drawn to Midnight Hole. Even so, just like the previous hike to Abram Falls, I did not feel a message from God right away. About six weeks after our Big Creek hike, while driving to work, it was as if God were showing me a movie in my mind. As I mentally peered through the clear mountain water surrounding Midnight Hole, I began seeing believers cautiously wading through the water, making sure each of their steps were precisely placed, all while making sure they stayed clear of the edge between the clarity of the shallows and the darkness of the deep. I thought to myself, that is exactly what I and, if I were to guess, most other believers would do. It was as if they were avoiding evil and trying to live a life pleasing to God. Then, amazingly, every so often one of the believers would dive headlong in to the depths of the darkness. I was perplexed. First of all, why would a believer dare to venture into the deep, and second they would have to be crazy to dive headfirst into the unknown darkness? Unless maybe they had fallen and decided to turn their back on God. Then God revealed to me that the waterfall pouring into the dark hole was the lost souls of the world being poured into the pit of darkness. Filling the darkness but yet it never seemed to get full. And then I realized the believers who were diving into the darkness were not falling and turning their backs on God’s, but were being obedient to God and were trying to save those who were lost in the darkness. But if that were the case, why wouldn’t more of the believers be diving in? Could it be fear of the darkness and what it hides? Or could it be complacency? Just satisfied with their status quo. My guess is it is a combination of both. Let me attempt to put our minds at ease and, regrettably, at guilt. The question that will do both is, did Jesus ever shy away from diving headfirst in to the darkness to save a lost soul? The answer is never. As a matter of fact, he

willingly allowed himself to be mercilessly beaten and killed in order to save the lost souls of mankind. Why then are we not willing to inconvenience ourselves and reach out to those who are lost and present that good news to them? Will we stand in the safety of our clear shallow water and simply watch a lost and dying world making hypocritical statements like, “I will pray for you.” I believe God wants our actions as much as he wants our words. Reach out! Dive in! Do not be afraid of the darkness or anything else Satan has to throw at you. Didn’t Jesus promise us he would be with us going in, going through and coming out the other side? So what is there to fear? Share the good news with a hurting lost soul. After all, like I have said many times, if not us, then who?

Scripture Verses John chapter 8 verse 12. Verse 12: “When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” Isaiah chapter 50 verse 10. Verse 10: “Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the world of His servant? Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on their God.” Matthew 4 verse 16. Verse 16: “The people living in the darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 9. Verse 9: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” Deuteronomy chapter 31 verse 8. Verse 8: “The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you, He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Psalms chapter 139 verses 11 & 12. Verse 11: “If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me.’” Verse 12: “Even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.”

Prayer: I encourage everyone to take a moment and do a bit of self-reflection. Ask yourself, “Why am I afraid to reach out to the lost?” Is it out of fear or maybe complacency? Let me remind each of us that there are many hurting people who are lost and on their way to an eternity outside the presence of God. Regardless of the reasoning we have for not reaching out to them, take a moment to honestly open up the God and ask him for the strength and courage to do what we all know is right.

Well, my friends, our journey together has come to an end. Now stop it, do not shed any tears. This is not a sad time, but a time to open your eyes to new adventures. There is a great big world patiently awaiting you. My hope is that through the time we have spent together, you have an enlightened perspective on the wonders that exist in God’s glorious creation of nature. A lot can be learned when we open ourselves up to a teacher who just happens to be the one who created it all. Don’t be surprised if the next hike you take, you come away with a greater understanding of God and his plan for your life simply by seeing a squirrel in a tree or a rock on the ground. If I could only have one prayer as our adventure closes, it would simply be that you have somehow grown closer to God through his son, Jesus, and have developed a new found courage and strength to share that with a lost and dying world. After all, if not us, who? May God bless you…

Surprise! You only thought we were finished. I could not possibly leave you unless I was sure you were set up for success. On several occasions during our journey, I mentioned the importance of reading the Bible, and not just bits and pieces, but the whole Bible. I realize this is a daunting task. For some, the commitment of time for such an endeavor is a roadblock. For others, it may simply be a lack of a plan on how to proceed. Regardless, as I mentioned before, it is imperative for you to fully understand the truths presented in the Bible, and as hard as it is to hear, the only way to do that is to read it. And yes, I mean from cover to cover. From beginning to beginning. No, that is not a mistake, after all, there is no ending for a true believer. To help you along this solo journey, I have given you a plan so that you can actually read through the bible in one year. Please do not beat yourself up if you miss a day here and there, or even if you do not finish in one year. The important thing is that you keep moving forward in your relationship with God. With that said, I promise this is truly the end of the book. But only the beginning of your wonderful adventure walking with God…

One Year Bible Reading Plan

Day Old Testament

New Testament

1

Genesis 1, Genesis 2:1–17

Matthew 1:1–25

2

Genesis 2:18–25, Genesis 3, Genesis 4:1–16

Matthew 2:1–18

3

Genesis 4:17–26, Genesis 5, Genesis 6

Matthew 2:19–23

4

Genesis 7, Genesis 8, Genesis 9:1–17

Matthew 4:1–22

5

Genesis 9:18–29, Genesis 10, Genesis 11:1–9

Matthew 4:23–25

6

Genesis 11:10–32, Genesis 12, Genesis 13

Matthew 5:21–42

7

Genesis 14, Genesis 15, Genesis 16

Matthew 5:43–48

8

Genesis 17, Genesis 18

Matthew 6:25–34

9

Genesis 19, Genesis 20:1–18

Matthew 7:24–29

10

Genesis 21, Genesis 22, Genesis 23

Matthew 8:23–34

11

Genesis 24:1–67

Matthew 9:14–38

12

Genesis 25, Genesis 26

Matthew 10:1–31

13

Genesis 27, Genesis 28:1–22

Matthew 10:32–4

14

Genesis 29, Genesis 30

Matthew 11:16–3

15

Genesis 31:1–55

Matthew 12:1–21

16

Genesis 32, Genesis 33

Matthew 12:22–4

17

Genesis 34, Genesis 35

Matthew 12:46–5

18

Genesis 36, Genesis 37

Matthew 13:18–3

19

Genesis 38, Genesis 39

Matthew 13:36–5

20

Genesis 40, Genesis 41:1–40

Matthew 14:1–21

21

Genesis 41:41–57, Genesis 42

Matthew 14:22–3

22

Genesis 43, Genesis 44

Matthew 15:10–3

23 Genesis 45, Genesis 46, Genesis 47:1–12

Matthew 16:1–20

24 Genesis 47:13–31, Genesis 48

Matthew 16:21–2

25 Genesis 49, Genesis 50

Matthew 17:14–2

26 Job 1, Job 2, Job 3

Matthew 18:10–3

27 Job 4, Job 5, Job 6, Job 7

Matthew 19:1–15

28 Job 8, Job 9, Job 10

Matthew 19:16–3

29 Job 11, Job 12, Job 13, Job 14

Matthew 20:1–19

30 Job 15, Job 16, Job 17, Job 18

Matthew 20:20–3

31 Job 19, Job 20, Job 21

Matthew 21:1–17

32 Job 22, Job 23, Job 24

Matthew 21:18–3

33 Job 25, Job 26, Job 27, Job 28, Job 29

Matthew 21:33–4

34 Job 30, Job 31, Job 32

Matthew 22:15–4

35 Job 33, Job 34

Matthew 23:1–39

36 Job 35, Job 36, Job 37

Matthew 24:1–31

37 Job 38, Job 39, Job 40:1–2

Matthew 24:32–5

38 Job 40:3–24, Job 41, Job 42

Matthew 25:14–4

39 Exodus 1, Exodus 2, Exodus 3

Matthew 26:1–30

40 Exodus 4, Exodus 5, Exodus 6:1–12

Matthew 26:31–4

41 Exodus 6:13–30, Exodus 7,Exodus 8

Matthew 26:47–6

42 Exodus 9, Exodus 10

Matthew 26:69–7

43 Exodus 11, Exodus 12

Matthew 27:11–4

44 Exodus 13, Exodus 14

Matthew 27:45–6

45 Exodus 15, Exodus 16

Matthew 28:1–20

46 Exodus 17, Exodus 18

Mark 1:1–28

47 Exodus 19, Exodus 20

Mark 1:29–45, M

48 Exodus 21, Exodus 22

Mark 2:18–27, M

49 Exodus 23, Exodus 24

Mark 3:31–35, M

50 Exodus 25, Exodus 26

Mark 4:30–41, M

51 Exodus 27, Exodus 28

Mark 5:21–43, M

52

Exodus 29, Exodus 30

Mark 6:7–29

53

Exodus 31, Exodus 32, Exodus 33:1–6

Mark 6:30–56

54

Exodus 33:7–23, Exodus 34

Mark 7:1–30

55

Exodus 35, Exodus 36

Mark 7:31–37, M

56

Exodus 37, Exodus 38

Mark 8:14–38, M

57

Exodus 39, Exodus 40

Mark 9:2–32

58

Leviticus 1, Leviticus 2, Leviticus 3

Mark 9:33–50, M

59

Leviticus 4, Leviticus 5:1–13

Mark 10:13–31

60

Leviticus 5:14–19, Leviticus 6, Leviticus 7:1–10

Mark 10:32–52

61

Leviticus 7:11–38, Leviticus 8

Mark 11:1–27

62

Leviticus 9, Leviticus 10

Mark 11:28–33, M

63

Leviticus 11, Leviticus 12

Mark 12:13–27

64

Leviticus 13:1–59

Mark 12:28–44

65

Leviticus 14:1–57

Mark 13:1–31

66

Leviticus 15, Leviticus 16

Mark 13:32–37, M

67

Leviticus 17, Leviticus 18

Mark 14:17–42

68

Leviticus 19, Leviticus 20

Mark 14:43–72

69

Leviticus 21, Leviticus 22

Mark 15:1–32

70

Leviticus 23, Leviticus 24

Mark 15:33–47

71

Leviticus 25, Leviticus 26:1–13

Mark 16:1–20

72

Leviticus 26:14–46, Leviticus 27

Luke 1:1–25

73

Numbers 1, Numbers 2:1–9

Luke 1:26–38

74

Numbers 2:10–34, Numbers 3

Luke 1:39–56

75

Numbers 4, Numbers 5:1–10

Luke 1:57–80

76

Numbers 5:11–31, Numbers 6:1–27

Luke 2:1–20

77

Numbers 7:1–65

Luke 2:21–40

78

Numbers 7:66–89, Numbers 8, Numbers 9:1–14

Luke 2:41–52

79

Numbers 9:15–23, Numbers 10, Numbers 11:1–3

Luke 3:1–22

80

Numbers 11:4–35, Numbers 12, Numbers 13:1–25

Luke 3:23–38, Lu

81

Numbers 13:26–33, Numbers 14

Luke 4:14–37

82

Numbers 15, Numbers 16:1–35

Luke 4:38–44, Lu

83

Numbers 16:36–50, Numbers 17, Numbers 18

Luke 5:17–32

84

Numbers 19, Numbers 20, Numbers 21:1–3

Luke 5:33–39, Lu

85

Numbers 21:4–35, Numbers 22:1–20

Luke 6:12–36

86

Numbers 22:21–41, Numbers 23:1–26

Luke 6:37–49, Lu

87

Numbers 23:27–30, Numbers 24, Numbers 25

Luke 7:11–35

88

Numbers 26, Numbers 27:1–11

Luke 7:36–50

89

Numbers 27:12–23, Numbers 28, Numbers 29:1–11

Luke 8:1–18

90

Numbers 29:12–40, Numbers 30, Numbers 31:1–24

Luke 8:19–39

91

Numbers 31:25–54, Numbers 32

Luke 8:40–56, Lu

92

Numbers 33, Numbers 34

Luke 9:10–27

93

Numbers 35, Numbers 36:1–12

Luke 9:28–56

94

Deuteronomy 1, Deuteronomy 2:1–23

Luke 9:57–62, Lu

95

Deuteronomy 2:24–37, Deuteronomy 3, Deuteronomy 4:1–14

Luke 10:25–42, L

96

Deuteronomy 4:15–49, Deuteronomy 5

Luke 11:5–32

97

Deuteronomy 6, Deuteronomy 7, Deuteronomy 8

Luke 11:33–54

98

Deuteronomy 9, Deuteronomy 10

Luke 12:1–34

99

Deuteronomy 11, Deuteronomy 12

Luke 12:35–59

100 Deuteronomy 13, Deuteronomy 14

Luke 13:1–30

101 Deuteronomy 15, Deuteronomy 16:1–20

Luke 13:31–35, L

102 Deuteronomy 16:21–22, Deuteronomy 17, Deuteronomy 18

Luke 14:15–35

103 Deuteronomy 19, Deuteronomy 20

Luke 15:1–32

104 Deuteronomy 21, Deuteronomy 22

Luke 16:1–18

105 Deuteronomy 23, Deuteronomy 24, Deuteronomy 25:1–19

Luke 16:19–31, L

106 Deuteronomy 26, Deuteronomy 27, Deuteronomy 28:1–14

Luke 17:11–37

107 Deuteronomy 28:15–68

Luke 18:1–30

108 Deuteronomy 29, Deuteronomy 30:1–10

Luke 18:31–43, L

109 Deuteronomy 30:11–20, Deuteronomy 31:1–29

Luke 19:11–44

110 Deuteronomy 31:30, Deuteronomy 32

Luke 19:45–48, L

111 Deuteronomy 33, Deuteronomy 34:1–12

Luke 20:27–47, L

112 Joshua 1, Joshua 2

Luke 21:5–38

113 Joshua 3, Joshua 4, Joshua 5:1–12

Luke 22:1–38

114 Joshua 5:13–15, Joshua 6, Joshua 7

Luke 22:39–62

115 Joshua 8, Joshua 9:1–15

Luke 22:63–71, L

116 Joshua 9:16–27, Joshua 10

Luke 23:26–56

117 Joshua 11, Joshua 12

Luke 24:1–35

118 Joshua 13, Joshua 14

Luke 24:36–53

119 Joshua 15, Joshua 16

John 1:1–28

120 Joshua 17, Joshua 18

John 1:29–51

121 Joshua 19, Joshua 20, Joshua 21:1–19

John 2:1–25

122 Joshua 21:20–45, Joshua 22

John 3:1–21

123 Joshua 23, Joshua 24

John 3:22–36

124 Judges 1, Judges 2:1–5

John 4:1–26

125 Judges 2:6–23, Judges 3

John 4:27–42

126 Judges 4, Judges 5

John 4:43–54, Joh

127 Judges 6, Judges 7:1–8

John 5:16–30

128 Judges 7:8–25, Judges 8

John 5:31–47

129 Judges 9

John 6:1–24

130 Judges 10, Judges 11

John 6:25–59

131 Judges 12, Judges 13

John 6:60–71, Joh

132 Judges 14, Judges 15

John 7:14–44

133 Judges 16, Judges 17

John 7:45–53, Joh

134 Judges 18, Judges 19

John 8:12–30

135 Judges 20, Judges 21

John 8:31–59

136 Ruth 1, Ruth 2

John 9:1–34

137 Ruth 3, Ruth 4

John 9:35–41, Joh

138 1 Samuel 1, 1 Samuel 2:1–26

John 10:22–42

139 1 Samuel 2:27–36, 1 Samuel 3, 1 Samuel 4

John 11:1–44

140 1 Samuel 5, 1 Samuel 6, 1 Samuel 7

John 11:45–57, Jo

141 1 Samuel 8, 1 Samuel 9, 1 Samuel 10:1–8

John 12:12–26

142 1 Samuel 10:9–27, 1 Samuel 11, 1 Samuel 12

John 12:37–50, Jo

143 1 Samuel 13, 1 Samuel 14:1–23

John 13:18–38

144 1 Samuel 14:24–52, 1 Samuel 15

John 14:1–31

145 1 Samuel 16, 1 Samuel 17:1–37

John 15, John 16:

146 1 Samuel 17:38–58, 1 Samuel 18

John 16:5–33, Joh

147 1 Samuel 19, 1 Samuel 20

John 17:6–26

148 1 Samuel 21, 1 Samuel 22, 1 Samuel 23

John 18:1–24

149 1 Samuel 24, 1 Samuel 25

John 18:25–40

150 1 Samuel 26, 1 Samuel 27, 1 Samuel 28

John 19:1–27

151 1 Samuel 29, 1 Samuel 30, 1 Samuel 31

John 19:28–42, Jo

152 2 Samuel 1, 2 Samuel 2:1–7

John 20:10–31

153 2 Samuel 2:8–32, 2 Samuel 3:1–21

John 21:1–25

154 2 Samuel 3:22–39, 2 Samuel 4, 2 Samuel 5:1–5

Acts 1:1–22

155 2 Samuel 5:6–25, 2 Samuel 6

Acts 1:23–26, Ac

156 2 Samuel 7, 2 Samuel 8

Acts 2:22–47

157 2 Samuel 9, 2 Samuel 10

Acts 3

158 2 Samuel 11, 2 Samuel 12

Acts 4:1–22

159 2 Samuel 13

Acts 4:23–37, Ac

160 2 Samuel 14, 2 Samuel 15:1–12

Acts 5:12–42

161 2 Samuel 15:13–37, 2 Samuel 16:1–14

Acts 6, Acts 7:1–1

162 2 Samuel 16:15–23, 2 Samuel 17, 2 Samuel 18:1–18

Acts 7:20–43

163 2 Samuel 18:19–33, 2 Samuel 19

Acts 7:44–60, Ac

164 2 Samuel 20, 2 Samuel 21

Acts 8:4–40

165 2 Samuel 22, 2 Samuel 23:1–7

Acts 9:1–31

166 2 Samuel 23:8–39, 2 Samuel 24:1–25

Acts 9:32–43, Ac

167 1 Kings 1, 1 Kings 2:1–12

Acts 10:23–48, A

168 1 Kings 2:13–46, 1 Kings 3:1–15

Acts 11:19–30, A

169 1 Kings 3:16–28, 1 Kings 4, 1 Kings 5

Acts 12:19–25, A

170 1 Kings 6, 1 Kings 7:1–22

Acts 13:13–41

171 1 Kings 7:23–51, 1 Kings 8:1–21

Acts 13:42–52, A

172 1 Kings 8:22–66, 1 Kings 9:1–9

Acts 14:8–28

173 1 Kings 9:10–28, 1 Kings 10, 1 Kings 11:1–13

Acts 15:1–21

174 1 Kings 11:14–43, 1 Kings 12:1–24

Acts 15:22–41

175 1 Kings 12:25–33, 1 Kings 13, 1 Kings 14:1–20

Acts 16:1–15

176 1 Kings 14:21–31, 1 Kings 15, 1 Kings 16:1–7

Acts 16:16–40

177 1 Kings 16:8–34, 1 Kings 17, 1 Kings 18:1–15

Acts 17:1–21

178 1 Kings 18:16–46, 1 Kings 19

Acts 17:22–34, A

179 1 Kings 20, 1 Kings 21

Acts 18:9–28, Ac

180 1 Kings 22:1–53

Acts 19:14–41

181 2 Kings 1, 2 Kings 2:1–25

Acts 20:1–38

182 2 Kings 3, 2 Kings 4:1–37

Acts 21:1–26

183 2 Kings 4:38–44, 2 Kings 5, 2 Kings 6:1–23

Acts 21:27–40, A

184 2 Kings 6:24–33, 2 Kings 7, 2 Kings 8:1–15

Acts 22:22–30, A

185 2 Kings 8:16–29, 2 Kings 9

Acts 23:12–35

186 2 Kings 10, 2 Kings 11

Acts 24:1–27

187 2 Kings 12, 2 Kings 13, 2 Kings 14:1–22

Acts 25:1–22

188 2 Kings 14:23–29, 2 Kings 15

Acts 25:23–27, A

189 2 Kings 16, 2 Kings 17

Acts 26:24–32, A

190 2 Kings 18, 2 Kings 19:1–13

Acts 27:13–44

191 2 Kings 19:14–37, 2 Kings 20

Acts 28:1–16

192 2 Kings 21, 2 Kings 22

Acts 28:17–31

193 2 Kings 23, 2 Kings 24:1–7

Romans 1:1–17

194 2 Kings 24:8–20, 2 Kings 25

Romans 1:18–32

195 Jonah 1, Jonah 2, Jonah 3, Jonah 4

Romans 2:1–16

196 Amos 1, Amos 2

Romans 2:17–29,

197 Amos 3, Amos 4

Romans 3:9–31

198 Amos 5

Romans 4:1–15

199 Amos 6, Amos 7

Romans 4:16–25,

200 Amos 8, Amos 9

Romans 5:12–21

201 Hosea 1, Hosea 2

Romans 6:1–14

202 Hosea 3, Hosea 4, Hosea 5

Romans 6:15–23,

203 Hosea 6, Hosea 7

Romans 7:7–25

204 Hosea 8, Hosea 9

Romans 8:1–17

205 Hosea 10, Hosea 11

Romans 8:18–39

206 Hosea 11, Hosea 12, Hosea 13, Hosea 14

Romans 9:1–21

207 1 Chronicles 1, 1 Chronicles 2:1–17

Romans 9:22–33,

208 1 Chronicles 2:18–55, 1 Chronicles 3, 1 Chronicles 4:1–8

Romans 10:5–21,

209 1 Chronicles 4:9–43, 1 Chronicles 5

Romans 11:11–32

210 1 Chronicles 6

Romans 11:33–36

211 1 Chronicles 7, 1 Chronicles 8

Romans 13:1–14

212 1 Chronicles 9, 1 Chronicles 10:1–14

Romans 14:1–18

213 1 Chronicles 11, 1 Chronicles 12:1–22

Romans 14:19–23

214 1 Chronicles 12:23–40, 1 Chronicles 13, 1 Chronicles 14

Romans 15:14–33

215 1 Chronicles 15, 1 Chronicles 16:1–36

Romans 16

216 1 Chronicles 16:37–43, 1 Chronicles 17, 1 Chronicles 18

1 Corinthians 1:1–

217 1 Chronicles 19, 1 Chronicles 20, 1 Chronicles 21

1 Corinthians 1:18

218 1 Chronicles 22, 1 Chronicles 23

1 Corinthians 2:6–

219 1 Chronicles 24, 1 Chronicles 25, 1 Chronicles 26:1–19

1 Corinthians 3

220 1 Chronicles 26:20–32, 1 Chronicles 27

1 Corinthians 4

221 1 Chronicles 28, 1 Chronicles 29

1 Corinthians 5

222 2 Chronicles 1:1–17

1 Corinthians 6

223 Ecclesiastes 1, Ecclesiastes 2, Ecclesiastes 3:1–22

1 Corinthians 7:1–

224 Ecclesiastes 4, Ecclesiastes 5, Ecclesiastes 6

1 Corinthians 7:17

225 Ecclesiastes 7, Ecclesiastes 8, Ecclesiastes 9:1–12

1 Corinthians 7:36

226 Ecclesiastes 9:13–18, Ecclesiastes 10, Ecclesiastes 11, Ecclesiastes 12 1 Corinthians 9:1– 227 2 Chronicles 2, 2 Chronicles 3, 2 Chronicles 4, 2 Chronicles 5:1

1 Corinthians 9:19

228 2 Chronicles 5:2–14, 2 Chronicles 6, 2 Chronicles 7:1–10

1 Corinthians 10:1

229 2 Chronicles 7:11–22, 2 Chronicles 8, 2 Chronicles 9

1 Corinthians 11:2

230 Song 1, Song 2, Song 3, Song 4

1 Corinthians 12:1

231 Song 5, Song 6, Song 7, Song 8

1 Corinthians 12:2

232 2 Chronicles 10, 2 Chronicles 11, 2 Chronicles 12

1 Corinthians 14:1

233 2 Chronicles 13, 2 Chronicles 14, 2 Chronicles 15

1 Corinthians 14:2

234 2 Chronicles 16, 2 Chronicles 17, 2 Chronicles 18:1–27

1 Corinthians 15:1

235 2 Chronicles 18:28–34, 2 Chronicles 19, 2 Chronicles 20

1 Corinthians 15:3

236 2 Chronicles 21, 2 Chronicles 22, 2 Chronicles 23

1 Corinthians 15:5

237 2 Chronicles 24, 2 Chronicles 25

1 Corinthians 16:5

238 2 Chronicles 26, 2 Chronicles 27, 2 Chronicles 28

2 Corinthians 1:1–

239 2 Chronicles 29, 2 Chronicles 30, 2 Chronicles 31:1

2 Corinthians 1:12

240 2 Chronicles 31:2–21, 2 Chronicles 32, 2 Chronicles 33:1–20

2 Corinthians 1:23

241 2 Chronicles 33:21–24, 2 Chronicles 34, 2 Chronicles 35:1–19

2 Corinthians 2:12

242 2 Chronicles 35:20–27, 2 Chronicles 36

2 Corinthians 3:7–

243 Micah 1, Micah 2, Micah 3, Micah 4

2 Corinthians 4

244 Micah 5, Micah 6, Micah 7

2 Corinthians 5:1–

245 Isaiah 1, Isaiah 2

2 Corinthians 5:11

246 Isaiah 3, Isaiah 4, Isaiah 5:1–7

2 Corinthians 6:3–

247 Isaiah 5:8–30, Isaiah 6, Isaiah 7, Isaiah 8:1–10

2 Corinthians 7:2–

248 Isaiah 8:11–22, Isaiah 9, Isaiah 10:1–19

2 Corinthians 8:1–

249 Isaiah 10:20–34, Isaiah 11, Isaiah 12, Isaiah 13

2 Corinthians 8:16

250 Isaiah 14, Isaiah 15, Isaiah 16

2 Corinthians 9:6–

251 Isaiah 17, Isaiah 18, Isaiah 19

2 Corinthians 10

252 Isaiah 20, Isaiah 21, Isaiah 22, Isaiah 23

2 Corinthians 11:1

253 Isaiah 24, Isaiah 25, Isaiah 26

2 Corinthians 11:1

254 Isaiah 27, Isaiah 28

2 Corinthians 12:1

255 Isaiah 29, Isaiah 30:1–18

2 Corinthians 12:1

256 Isaiah 30:19–33, Isaiah 31, Isaiah 32

2 Corinthians 13

257 Isaiah 33, Isaiah 34, Isaiah 35

Galatians 1

258 Isaiah 36, Isaiah 37

Galatians 2:1–10

259 Isaiah 38, Isaiah 39, Isaiah 40

Galatians 2:11–21

260 Isaiah 41, Isaiah 42

Galatians 3:10–25

261 Isaiah 43, Isaiah 44:1–23

Galatians 3:26–29

262 Isaiah 44:24–28, Isaiah 45, Isaiah 46

Galatians 4:21–31

263 Isaiah 47, Isaiah 48, Isaiah 49:1–7

Galatians 5:7–26

264 Isaiah 49:8–26, Isaiah 50, Isaiah 51:1–16

Galatians 6

265 Isaiah 51:17–23, Isaiah 52, Isaiah 53, Isaiah 54

Ephesians 1

266 Isaiah 55, Isaiah 56, Isaiah 57:1–13

Ephesians 2

267 Isaiah 57:14–21, Isaiah 58, Isaiah 59

Ephesians 3

268 Isaiah 60, Isaiah 61, Isaiah 62

Ephesians 4:1–16

269 Isaiah 63, Isaiah 64, Isaiah 65:1–16

Ephesians 4:17–3

270 Isaiah 65:17–25, Isaiah 66

Ephesians 5:8–33

271 Nahum 1, Nahum 2, Nahum 3

Ephesians 6

272 Zephaniah 1, Zephaniah 2, Zephaniah 3

Philippians 1:1–2

273 Jeremiah 1, Jeremiah 2:1–30

Philippians 1:27–

274 Jeremiah 2:31–47, Jeremiah 3, Jeremiah 4:1–9

Philippians 2:12–

275 Jeremiah 4:10–31, Jeremiah 5

Philippians 3, Phi

276 Jeremiah 6, Jeremiah 7:1–29

Philippians 4:2–2

277 Jeremiah 7:30–34, Jeremiah 8, Jeremiah 9:1–16

Colossians 1:1–23

278 Jeremiah 9:17–26, Jeremiah 10, Jeremiah 11:1–17

Colossians 1:24–2

279 Jeremiah 11:18–23, Jeremiah 12, Jeremiah 13

Colossians 2:6–23

280 Jeremiah 14, Jeremiah 15

Colossians 3, Col

281 Jeremiah 16, Jeremiah 17

Colossians 4:2–18

282 Jeremiah 18, Jeremiah 19, Jeremiah 20

1 Thessalonians 1

283 Jeremiah 21, Jeremiah 22, Jeremiah 23:1–8

1 Thessalonians 2

284 Jeremiah 23:9–40, Jeremiah 24, Jeremiah 25:1–14

1 Thessalonians 4

285 Jeremiah 25:15–38, Jeremiah 26

1 Thessalonians 5

286 Jeremiah 27, Jeremiah 28, Jeremiah 29:1–23

2 Thessalonians 1

287 Jeremiah 29:24–32, Jeremiah 30, Jeremiah 31:1–14

2 Thessalonians 2

288 Jeremiah 31:15–40, Jeremiah 32:1–25

2 Thessalonians 3

289 Jeremiah 32:26–44, Jeremiah 33, Jeremiah 34

1 Timothy 1

290 Jeremiah 35, Jeremiah 36, Jeremiah 37

1 Timothy 2

291 Jeremiah 38, Jeremiah 39, Jeremiah 40:1–6

1 Timothy 3

292 Jeremiah 40:7–16, Jeremiah 41, Jeremiah 42

1 Timothy 4

293 Jeremiah 43, Jeremiah 44, Jeremiah 45

1 Timothy 5, 1 Ti

294 Jeremiah 46, Jeremiah 47

1 Timothy 6:3–21

295 Jeremiah 48, Jeremiah 49:1–6

2 Timothy 1

296 Jeremiah 49:7–39, Jeremiah 50:1–10

2 Timothy 2

297 Jeremiah 50:11–46, Jeremiah 51:1–14

2 Timothy 3

298 Jeremiah 51:15–64

2 Timothy 4

299 Jeremiah 52

Titus 1

300 Habakkuk 1, Habakkuk 2, Habakkuk 3:1–19

Titus 2

301 Lamentations 1, Lamentations 2:1–6

Titus 3

302 Lamentations 2:7–27, Lamentations 3:1–39

Philemon 1

303 Lamentations 3:40–66, Lamentations 4, Lamentations 5

Hebrews 1

304 Obadiah 1

Hebrews 2

305 Joel 1, Joel 2:1–17

Hebrews 3

306 Joel 2:18–32, Joel 3

Hebrews 4:1–13

307 Ezekiel 1, Ezekiel 2, Ezekiel 3

Hebrews 4:14–16

308 Ezekiel 4, Ezekiel 5, Ezekiel 6

Hebrews 5:11–14

309 Ezekiel 7, Ezekiel 8, Ezekiel 9

Hebrews 6:13–20

310 Ezekiel 10, Ezekiel 11, Ezekiel 12

Hebrews 7:11–28

311 Ezekiel 13, Ezekiel 14, Ezekiel 15

Hebrews 8

312 Ezekiel 16

Hebrews 9:1–15

313 Ezekiel 17, Ezekiel 18

Hebrews 9:16–28

314 Ezekiel 19, Ezekiel 20:1–44

Hebrews 10:1–18

315 Ezekiel 20:45–49, Ezekiel 21, Ezekiel 22:1–22

Hebrews 10:19–3

316 Ezekiel 22:23–31, Ezekiel 23

Hebrews 11:1–16

317 Ezekiel 24, Ezekiel 25

Hebrews 11:17–4

318 Ezekiel 26, Ezekiel 27

Hebrews 12:1–13

319 Ezekiel 28, Ezekiel 29

Hebrews 12:14–2

320 Ezekiel 30, Ezekiel 31

Hebrews 13

321 Ezekiel 32, Ezekiel 33:1–32

James 1

322 Ezekiel 33:21–33, Ezekiel 34, Ezekiel 35

James 2

323 Ezekiel 36, Ezekiel 37

James 3

324 Ezekiel 38, Ezekiel 39

James 4

325 Ezekiel 40

James 5

326 Ezekiel 41, Ezekiel 42

1 Peter 1, 1 Peter

327 Ezekiel 43, Ezekiel 44

1 Peter 2:4–25

328 Ezekiel 45, Ezekiel 46

1 Peter 3

329 Ezekiel 47, Ezekiel 48

1 Peter 4

330 Daniel 1, Daniel 2:1–23

1 Peter 5

331 Daniel 2:24–49, Daniel 3:1–12

2 Peter 1

332 Daniel 3:13–30, Daniel 4:1–18

2 Peter 2

333 Daniel 4:19–37, Daniel 5:1–16

2 Peter 3

334 Daniel 5:17–31, Daniel 6:1–28

1 John 1, 1 John 2

335 Daniel 7, Daniel 8:1–14

1 John 2:12–27

336 Daniel 8:15–27, Daniel 9:1–19

1 John 2:28–29, 1

337 Daniel 9:20–27, Daniel 10, Daniel 11:1

1 John 3:11–24, 1

338 Daniel 11:2–35

1 John 4:7–21

339 Daniel 11:36–45, Daniel 12

1 John 5:1–21

340 Haggai 1, Haggai 2:1–23

2 John 1:1–13

341 Zechariah 1, Zechariah 2, Zechariah 3, Zechariah 4

3 John 1:1–14

342 Zechariah 5, Zechariah 6, Zechariah 7, Zechariah 8

Jude 1:1–25

343 Zechariah 9, Zechariah 10, Zechariah 11

Revelation 1

344 Zechariah 12, Zechariah 13, Zechariah 14

Revelation 2:1–17

345 Esther 1, Esther 2:1–18

Revelation 2:18–2

346 Esther 2:19–23, Esther 3, Esther 4, Esther 5

Revelation 3:7–22

347 Esther 6, Esther 7, Esther 8

Revelation 4

348 Esther 9, Esther 10

Revelation 5

349 Malachi 1, Malachi 2:1–16

Revelation 6

350 Malachi 2:17, Malachi 3, Malachi 4

Revelation 7

351 Ezra 1, Ezra 2:1–67

Revelation 8, Rev

352 Ezra 2:68–70, Ezra 3, Ezra 4:1–5

Revelation 9:13–2

353 Ezra 4:6–24, Ezra 5

Revelation 11

354 Ezra 6, Ezra 7:1–10

Revelation 12, Re

355 Ezra 7:11–28, Ezra 8:1–14

Revelation 13:1–1

356 Ezra 8:15–36, Ezra 9:1–15

Revelation 14:1–1

357 Ezra 10

Revelation 14:14–

358 Nehemiah 1, Nehemiah 2

Revelation 16

359 Nehemiah 3, Nehemiah 4

Revelation 17

360 Nehemiah 5, Nehemiah 6, Nehemiah 7:1–3

Revelation 18:1–1

361 Nehemiah 7:4–73, Nehemiah 8

Revelation 18:17–

362 Nehemiah 9:1–37

Revelation 19:11–

363 Nehemiah 9:38, Nehemiah 10, Nehemiah 11:1–21

Revelation 20

364 Nehemiah 11:22–36, Nehemiah 12:1–47

Revelation 21

365 Nehemiah 13

Revelation 22

About the Author

Michael Knapp can be described in three statements: faith in God, love of family, and an unquenchable desire to be surrounded by nature. Michael’s faith in God began in eighth grade when he gave his heart to the Lord and has considered himself a work in progress ever since. Married to his wife, Melissa, for thirty-three wonderful years, the two have raised three boys and are currently over the moon with their granddaughters. Michael will openly it his greatest blessing in life is that all his children love the Lord and married God-fearing women. If given the opportunity, Michael will eagerly share that his desire for nature comes from an intimate understanding of God’s glorious creation and the draw nature has on the spirit that dwells within everyone.