The Bible Speaks to You: Think, Pray, Love like Jesus

102 – How are you related to Jesus? There are so many facets to your relationship with Jesus. Here a few obvious ones: Jesus is Lord and Savior: it's a Master-servant relationship Jesus is the Messiah, or Christ: it’s a relationship between prophecy and its fulfillment in our lives Jesus is our teacher: it's a teacher-student relationship He is the Great Physician: it’s a healer-patient...

101 – Should women dress modestly to support guys trying to overcome lust? According to some church circles the answer is yes. But that makes the assumption that men can't think for themselves, are controlled by what women wear, and don't have to take responsibility for their own sinful thoughts. In this week's episode, I talk about some of the issues involved in overcoming lust. Ev...

100 – If you could talk to your favorite Bible Character, other than Jesus, who would it be and what would you ask them? In celebration of Episode 100 of The Bible Speaks to You Podcast, I have asked my listeners to share the answer to this question. Here are the people from the Bible who are on the hot seat this week to answer some pretty good questions: Enoch Methuselah Abraham Joseph, son of Is...

099 – Have you ever wondered how Jesus healed people? There are so many ways to talk about this, and there’s no way to go into great depth in a single podcast episode. But there are a few main points I will emphasize. How did Jesus heal? First, I believe he was so completely aware of God’s healing presence.  Jesus knew the Scriptures, so we can assume he knew this verse "I am the LORD who hea...

098 – God's will for you is healing Over the years I’ve talked to many Christians about God’s healing power and that this is part of the original Christianity Jesus taught and practiced during his ministry, and that it should be part of Christianity today. Today we’re talking about the fact, yes the fact , that it is God’s will for you to be healed. So, why is one person healed when you pray...

097 – What happens when you forgive someone? For Mark Sowersby, forgiveness brings freedom. Mark is a Pentecostal preacher and shares a powerful testimony of forgiveness in this week's episode. As a child, he was abused sexually. But freedom did not come when the abuse stopped after seven years.  It took decades for Mark to find true freedom and it only came as he was able to forgive his abus...

096 – Is it possible to think with the mindset of Jesus? Yes. Paul says, "We have the mind of Christ." (1 Cor. 2:16) But how do we do it? How do we think like Jesus did? There are so many aspects to the mindset of Jesus, there's no way to cover them all in one podcast episode. I'll talk about two of the most important ones today. The first thing to consider is what culminated i...

095 – What if there was a Spiritual Olympics? What events would you enter? As I was recording this episode, the 32nd Summer Olympiad is taking place in Tokyo. Have you gotten to watch many of the events? I love the stories of hard work and determination. I love the dedication the athletes have for their sports.  It's a good example for us. We need dedication and discipline to follow Christ in...

094 – Jesus said, "Ask and you will receive." Does that mean we will get whatever we pray for? Not at all. In this week's episode, I dig down into what it really means to ask God for something. We talk about: What the Greek word "ask" really means Why we can ask and pray with expectation Reasons why our prayers aren't answered Why your motives are important when you p...

093 – The Sermon on the Mount and the mindset of Jesus Last week we started the discussion about how to be more like Jesus. This week we’re going to look at a few things in the Sermon on the Mount to get a better insight into Jesus’s mindset. Everything Jesus tells us to do in this Sermon, he does as well.  It’s how he wants us to think, how to act, how to follow him, how to be more like him.  The...

092 – Have you ever just wanted to be more like Jesus? To be more like Jesus and truly follow him does not mean that we simply repeat his words and mimic his actions.  We need to embrace Jesus's mindset. This week's episode, which is Part 1 of "How to Be More Like Jesus," points out the need to: Understand Jesus better  Hear his voice Not use the human will and intellect or our...

091 – Are you using your God-given talents? We all have so many God-given talents and abilities. The question is: What are we doing with them?  In this week's episode I talk about Jesus's parable of the talents and how it relates to us using what we have been given. The parable of the talents: One man was given 5 talents One man was given 2 talents One man was given 1 talent One talent =...

090 – True freedom is not just doing whatever you want. Freedom is about being who God made you to be and doing what God made you to do without being influenced by the things that hold you in bondage to things that are harmful or ego-based. Freedom is in relation to something else. We are either free from something or free to do and/or be something. Freedom FROM something There's the freedom...

089 – How can we dig deeper into the Bible? Have you ever felt like your Bible study is sort of flat? The passage you're reading is just words and there's nothing new to get from it? This week's episode will give you some ideas about how to get some fresh inspiration from your Bible study by taking a deep dive in a thoughtful and meaningful way. Lectio divina This week I have a conv...

088 – Have you ever thought of yourself as a prophet of the Lord? What does it mean to be a prophet? Do you have to predict the future and call down fire from heaven? Basically, to be a prophet you need to: Hear God's voice and follow His directions Not promote your own personal opinions and perspectives Share God's message in the way He tells you to Use your spiritual eyes to see what&a...

087-When someone accuses you of making a mistake, what is your first reaction? All too often it is to justify our actions, make excuses, blame someone else, or run for cover. The Bible is full of this kind of behavior. It started all the way back with Adam. Instead of taking responsibility for eating the forbidden fruit, he blamed Eve. What if Adam had actually gone to God and repented for his sin...

086 – Have you ever wondered what happened on the day of Pentecost? What would it have been like to be in the room when the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples? What would it have been like to hear Peter preach to the crowd? The Day of Pentecost is important for so many reasons. First, the disciples were obedient to Jesus He had told them to wait in Jerusalem until they received the Holy Spirit...

085– Why is your identity in Christ so important? First, let me ask you: How do you see yourself? Usually we start with what we see in the mirror. How tall we are, how old, how much we weigh, what color of eyes, hair, and skin.   But is that who you really are, the unique combination of all these material parts and conditions?  No! There's so much more to who you are. How else do you see your...

084 – Have you ever noticed in the Bible how quickly God's healing power can come? A while back I read through the book of Mark. It seemed like every other verse had the word "immediately" in it. Everything happens so fast. There's a quickening pace in Mark you don't find in the other Gospel writers. In this week's episode I focus mainly on the first chapter of Mark....

083-What is the Biblical model for hospitality? How do you feel when someone invites you to their home? Maybe it's a party or an intimate dinner with just a few people. Or maybe it's just a one-on-one conversation where you really get to know someone and they get to know you. Or maybe you're the one inviting someone else. Either way, there's a wonderful feeling of including oth...

082 –It's time to open your spiritual eyes Look around you. What do you see? Your computer, your smartphone? If you're on a walk in the woods, you see the trees, the rocks, the gurgling stream. Now be really observant. Do you see everything there is to see, where ever you are? At first you may  think you take it all in. But there's no way to see everything. Can you see the stuff in...

081 – How would you feel if Jesus spit on you? I know, it sounds kind of gross. But once Jesus actually did spit on a blind man who had come to him to be  healed. If you were that man, it must have been quite a shock to hear that tell-tale guttural sound coming from Jesus's throat and then suddenly feel the warm gooey mess in your eyes. Spitting was a sign of contempt and rebuke. Was Jesus sh...

080 – Have you ever missed an opportunity God gave you? I certainly have. It feels like such a waste, doesn't it? Sometimes I have acted too soon and sometimes I have responded too late to do what God wanted me to do. It reminds of what happens with my three peach trees. It's spring time here in the United States. The weather is warming up. The flowers are starting to bloom. AND my peach...

079 – Have you ever gotten yourself in trouble by doing what you wanted to instead of what God wanted? All too often, we do what we want and them complain when things go wrong. Or we tell God what we want to happen. And we tell Him exactly how it should happen. We talk to God like He's an old man who is hard of hearing. We talk loud and repeat ourselves to make sure He hears our prayers. How&...

078 – Do you have to die and go to heaven before you see Jesus? That's what a lot of people believe. In fact, I have a friend who can't wait to die so he will get to see Jesus in heaven. But Jesus never said we have to die to experience heaven. He said the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And he emphasized the fact that the kingdom of God is within us. That means it's here right now. W...