As promised, here’s your space to share any brief takeaways or reflections if you took the Luke Challenge! Share even if you were not able to get it all done in 30 days and it’s months from the time you started! This is about increasingly knowing “This Jesus,” not about following rules. Someone suggested, and I think it’s a great idea, that you not look ahead and see what other people wrote as their takeaways before you write your comment. Just write your own. Don’t feel under pressure to match what someone else has said. Some people are wordier here than others and some more flowery. That doesn’t mean they got more out of it. Some of you are suffering so deeply that simply reading it and writing down three or four words is a huge act of faith. This is about you and your own journey with Jesus through Luke’s Gospel. No competition or comparisons allowed.
Let me know if you are going on to Acts! No pressure there either! Many of you are starting other Bible studies soon and will be devoting your time to those. We love serving you here at Living Proof so much. You are tremendously loved by Christ who calls you.
Love, Beth
Hi There. I recently started listening to your podcast. I drive a lot for my job and love to listen to God’s truth. You mentioned on there (your girl A-Z talk) to come to your blog for a copy of the scriptures verses on fear. I can’t seam to find them.
can you please give me some direction?
LaDonna
Hi LaDonna!
You can find it through the blog here: https://blog.lproof.org/2012/09/as-promised-the-great-forsake-and-take.html
Hope this helps! Blessings sister!
Jesus was One with humble but complete authority. He saw the unnoticed. He spoke truth regardless if it pleased people or won friends. He valued people regardless of gender, race or socioeconomic status- He looked at their hearts. He turned the world upside down from the beginning! Virgin birth? Shepherds working the night shift? Jesus did not avoid controversy. He asked questions that made people think about who He was and who they were in light of that. He was truly “a Man of the people” not of the prideful leaders. He ate some fish to show His tribe that He had really risen! He valued humility. He told us to come to Him like little children, putting all our stuff in His hands and to trust His heart. He is beyond worthy.
Thank you for giving us this challenge. I loved it!
I don’t have time to write all my takeaways. I saw so much about Jesus’ character! But the two things I have been pondering are:
1. Jesus wants us to hear His words and obey.
2. Jesus is a great teacher. I am a teacher and I am amazed at all the methods He uses to communicate and connect with people. I want to be like Him.
I loved this challenge so much that I plan to use it with my sophomore girls discipleship group this year as a simple bible study to help us get to know Jesus.
The Luke challenge was not a disappointment!! Here are some big takeaways from the study this month:
1) Intentionality! God is so intentional, deliberate and sovereign in the way He prepares people and circumstances for the great works He intends to accomplish…even to a full inn in Bethlehem. He is equipping his people way in advance of sending them – usually before anyone else even knows he is at work. Even with Jesus’ life, God’s grace was upon him as He grew (2:40) and then later, He grows in favor with God and man (2:40). God’s work starts on the inside and then is seen on the outside. (My daughter compared it to a seed that no one sees being prepared until it breaks through the soil. ) He is moving in, out and around us constantly!
2) Our solitary places with God are desperately needed! Jesus so often went to lonely places and mountains to pray and receive from God – especially in crucial decisions and events like choosing His disciples, preparing for ministry, & going to the cross. His pattern was to receive from the Father and then give.
Other highlighted takeaway gems:
– In surrender to the Father’s will and prayer, Jesus received strength. In sleep, the disciples came up exhausted.
– God reveals His work to people who are available, praising, waiting, humble hearted, filled w/ the Spirit, and full of faith.
– Jesus doesn’t miss people – He heals all who come to Him. He notices the broken.
– Sometimes rejection by some, can be God moving us to a different area.
– God is a giver! Ask boldly.
– Lost people draw Him. He is merciful beyond understanding or expectation!
– Jesus addresses the real questions people have, not just the ones they ask. He doesn’t coddle. He speaks into the lies & brokenness and say what the listener needs to hear.
– Luke is really Part 1 – Us watching and learning from Him. Acts is Part 2 – God’s people going like Him in His power.
– God’s love is breathtaking – both supernatural and intense. One with gently passionate eyes piercing our pride and dark with His overwhelming love. He laid down His life for us!
Ready to move on to Acts. Thanks for the challenge!!
Absolulty loved the Luke challenge and I have already moved on to Acts. I was mostly drawn to how many times Jesus retreated into the wilderness or a deserted place. And also, I was pulled into how many places women were found “in the scene” and at work in the ministry of Jesus. Thank you for such a wonderful suggestion!
I finished the Luke challenge a few weeks ago and am working on Acts 16 right now. I loved the Luke challenge an do feel closer to Jesus and able to understand more than I ever have before. Acts was a bit harder for me to write to Jesus about, but it is going well now. Love the challenges Beth, thank you!
Just finished Luke this morning! I took me two months, but with two littles in the house I think I did pretty good 🙂
Jesus you are humble, wise, without pomp and circumstance. So much more…you know my heart but my children are calling 🙂
Coming in late here, but here are some things I wrote to the Lord. This is good idea you had, Beth. It kept my thoughts personally connected to the Lord Jesus:
“Luke 1: “Most excellent Theophilus” – Lord Jesus, it is as though You are speaking to me in this verse, for the name means “Friend of God.” Was Theophilus a particular man? Or is this an address to each and every one of Your children who have loved You down through the ages? Or both? Whatever the case, by addressing this gospel to Theophilus, I take to mean You, Lord Jesus, are speaking to me through Luke, for I love You, because You first loved me – I, too, am Theophilus! You are speaking to me.”
“Luke 3: . . . I can’t understand Your genealogy, Lord, when I compare it to Matthew, even though I’m told Matthew traces the line of Joseph, and Luke gives the lineage of Mary. But what I do know is You entered into humanity and are also descended from Adam, as we all are. Thank You. There is, therefore, a distant to be sure, but a real human relationship we have, Lord Jesus. I am a very distant cousin, or niece of Yours. It will be so much fun in eternity to get to know all the humans there, and to know how we are related from earth, and how we all are related to You, with respect to Your humanity. You are some kind of cousin or uncle to me! We have the same Great Grandpa Noah, and Adam. Eve was our Great Grandma! Somehow, I have a [familial] relationship to You, Jesus. That is so much fun to think about. Good night!”
“Luke 9: . . . When You returned from the Mount, You healed the boy possessed of a demon. The disciples couldn’t cast it out. Before this, You had given them authority to cast out demons. But they couldn’t cast this one out. In another gospel You said this kind comes out only by prayer. I take that to mean, there are some demons too strong for us, and we must turn to You in prayer. Lord, I will assume all demons are too strong for me, and I will ask You to handle them. My Big Brother will beat them back for me! Thank You that You are strong enough!”
Well, there’s more, including Luke’s mention of women which was encouraging, but those were some thoughts. Thanks again!
One of the things I loved seeing was how Jesus responded to the people. He had so much love and compassion for the people. The contrast to how he related to the Pharisees and teachers of the law was super interesting. For sure he came to seek and save the lost.
I’m in for Acts!
I began the Luke Challenge on August 23 and finished reading Luke on September 23. I am so thankful for the accountability to do this and I learned many interesting facts (i.e. Jesus was tempted for 40 days–I thought he fasted 40 days and then was tempted 3 times). One take-away:
Jesus, human but praying often for God’s presence and Spirit to work in and through him, spoke purposefully and strategically even when it provoked animosity in the hearers. Already in Luke 6, Jesus healed on the Sabbath, pointing out that doing good on God’s Sabbath might actually be a good thing. Some of his hearers disagreed. Application: Pray and be purposeful, led by the Spirit.
Now I am reading through Luke’s Acts account of the early Christian witness of believers.
Following Jesus isn’t easy, but it’s worth it.
And when you stumble on the path He will graciously help you up with a word of encouragement, dust you off, take you by the hand and continue the journey.
Ughhh. Did not know this was happening. Missed it. So Yes, I will be doing the Acts part of it. Sounds awesome. Thanks guys!
Kathi,
Thank you Beth and all your staff. Today, September 28, 2019, simulcast was just what I needed and I’m 72 years old watching from home. I use to go to your events until cancer, death of spouse and surgeries have overcome me. It was wonderful. It really spoke to my heart and total well being. Thank you! Thank you! God Bless You!
I finished the Luke Challenge today, and it has been so timely, challenging, and humbling. My major takeaways were….
*It’s challenging to write personally to Jesus—I was tempted to list facts and figures, instead of feelings and questions.
*The humility required as a true disciple is staggering. I kept having to ask myself (in the Lord’s presence!) “Am I that Pharisee, who is criticizing and questioning every move You make?”
*The narrow gate is about leaving everything else behind, or at least holding it very loosely. It is chilling to consider—“Do you really know me, Lord?” Just as scary: “Do you know my loved ones?”
*Jesus is hardcore! Some of those parables really challenged me to realize that right alongside the Lord’s grace is justice, judgment.
*Repentance is key. May I never be so blind as to fall into the trap of the man saying “Thank God I’m not like those tax collectors”, but may I always be humble enough to bow my head and say “Have mercy on me, Lord.”
Thank you, Beth, for challenging us. It was a game changer for me!
Luke was a special study after going to see Beth. I hadn’t thought about how we compromise our believes. Jesus is very clear on what He expects and commands. I found it refreshing to see Christ get frustrated and out. I learned, so much more by applying the This Jesus or that Jesus. I’m going on to Acts.
I jumped in to the Luke Challenge fearfully. Even after a lifetime of loving and serving Jesus, spending time alone in the Word without a workbook, commentary or a discussion leader was a bit intimidating. But as I established this new habit with “ This Jesus” , it became a time of anticipation and peace. Doubts, fears and anxieties were replaced with comfort, love, and answers. Jesus himself was my teacher. This amazing God of love revealed himself to me in an intimate personal setting. So, of course, I have moved into a Acts. Thank you Luke and Beth for reintroducing me to the One who loves us so much and gives us purpose and hope for each day of our lives.
Loving and following Jesus, in pure true worship, means safety in our heart, protection from evil…but it doesn’t mean we won’t have hardships, horrible things in life may still come…separation from family for following Him…But pleasing Him first is what I must do, and He will strengthen and even bless me during the hardest of times. Other people are watching our love and devotion in action…and it will benefit them as well, as we stand firm in following Christ. Teaching all nations…we love those in our family and neighborhoods and country, but must also seek to love and share His forgiveness and hope with all nations and peoples. I need Him as much as the child, adult or elderly on any part of this earth that He gave us to share~
Sandy
Beth, thank you for this challenge. I did Luke and am halfway through Acts. I have so many things to share I don’t know how to pare down. One of the greatest benefits to me has been the two prayers that I pray on my knees beforehand, daily now, that God would open my mind to understand the scriptures and that he would fill me with his Holy Spirit. I guess to sum it up I finally was brought to the place of surrender (if God can humble me in this way, he can anyone!) in pure desperation, and as I came to the end of myself, I gave all control to the Lord and decided I wanted to do it his way. And I meant it this time. I was so desperate I had no other choice. With preexisting strongholds of fear and unbelief I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and panic took over, but after humiliating myself (or humbling myself you could say) before a group of people asking desperately for them to pray that I would have the faith to be well, I decided to give everything even my future and health to God and to begin DOING the work of faith. So, that would be actions since faith is actions. 🙂 I decided to do EVERYTHING I could think of to be well, asking the Holy Spirit to guide my thoughts. Seeking God everyday, for every decision, often aloud, and trusting Him to be my guide through His Spirit. God met me through the pages of Luke during this time and also through his people as I let them in, (amen!!) and I’m still growing but on an altogether different path. I’m much freer, happier, peaceful etc. I still have ground to take in the area of fear and shame, and I’m also doing the work of forgiving my mom – not necessarily just one decision to forgive, but walking down the path. 3 months ago I moved to NY from TX and miraculously met two different women (two!!) who have had a similar upbringing with the exact same abuse pattern in one of their parents. And I think the issue is somewhat rare- in all my 36 years I’ve never met someone with a similar struggle. God has been so faithful to me!! Thank you for challenging me to stay in the word and seek God, and for the suggestion to ask the Holy Spirit to guide me daily. After making these changes I followed up with a specialist and discovered that my antibodies I originally tested positive for, tested negative, and by a more sensitive test. Praise God! All I know is God wants healing for us, however it comes, and He responds to faith. All God’s promises are YES in Jesus, he is only looking for us to come to him in faith (even if it means pleading for others to pray for our faith if we lack said faith), and do the thing. Take action. It’s not going to happen by osmosis. When we do our part, we find he has already been at work for us. God is so good! And I have to just say, no subject is God not an expert on, so I came to him regarding every single google search about my disease, every debate about how to change my diet, etc. He also showed me the power of taking every thought captive to obey Christ. Making him Lord of our life and Lord in our mind by believing his truth over the enemy, doesn’t stifle us, doesn’t ruin our freedom, doesn’t hold us back from what we really want, instead gives us complete freedom and joy and LIFE. Wish this hope for everyone reading who may be stuck. :)) And also, I must say, I can’t minimize the role of repentance in seeking God and his way- it’s not shame or Bible beating; but a surrender of wanting to do things God’s way. It’s for our good!!! I repented of everything, self pity, unforgiveness, fear, bitterness. I guess if one thing doesn’t work, try everything. :)) I’ll be done now. Blessings everyone.