Hearing Jesus: Daily Bible Study and Christian Affirmations

Most of us carry questions we've never said out loud. Does God see me in this. Did I hear Him wrong. Is something different about me?

In Luke 3, the people were wondering in their hearts about John, and Luke tells us John answered them. Nobody asked anything out loud. Today we're talking about what prophecy actually is, how to tell a real word from a counterfeit, and what it means that God answers what we never say.

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What does prophecy actually mean?

Most of us hear prophecy and think of foretelling. That's a piece of it, but a small one. In Scripture, most prophecy is reminding people of what God has already said.

The Hebrew word is navi, meaning spokesman. We see it in Exodus 7, where God tells Moses that Aaron will be his prophet, meaning Aaron will say out loud what Moses gives him. The Greek word is prophetes, from pro, meaning forth or on behalf of, and phemi, to speak. A prophet speaks forth words that aren't his own.

I say all the time that God's voice will never contradict God's word. The inverse is also true. Often God's word is God's voice. When the Holy Spirit brings a verse to mind, that's the same thing, and sometimes He asks you to share it.

What did prophets actually do?

They called people back to the covenant. Most Old Testament prophets weren't announcing new information. They reminded Israel of what God said at Sinai and showed them where they had drifted.

They told the truth to powerful people. Nathan confronted David. Elijah confronted Ahab. John confronts Herod Antipas over his marriage, which is what lands him in prison.

I'll be honest about that part. This gift is not always well received. I've lost relationships over it, lost business deals, left organizations because there was hidden sin I didn't want to be part of. I'm not talking about being hurtful. I mean speaking the truth in love. But people don't want to be confronted with their own sin, and neither do systems.

And sometimes prophets acted out their message. Isaiah walked barefoot. Jeremiah wore a yoke. Ezekiel laid on his side for months. Hosea's whole marriage became the sermon. That's the callback to John. The camel hair and the wilderness weren't details that happened because he was an oddball. They were the message.

How do you know if a word is really from God?

The enemy has a counterfeit for everything. People go to tarot readings and psychics because it's often accurate. That knowledge comes from demons, and demons often know true things.

So the test is not accuracy. A prophet from God will lead you to God. Even if a word is true, if it leads you somewhere other than God, it's a false prophet.

Faithfulness to God is the standard. Earlier this year there was a news cycle about a charismatic preacher data farming on Facebook to gather information for his prophetic words. The words were true, because he lifted them off people's profiles. But they led people into pain and chaos, and God is not the author of chaos. He was accurate. Accuracy wasn't the standard.

What do I do if I think I've received a word?

Ask the Lord what to do with it. That's the step I hold as most sacred.

If He gives you a word to share and you don't, you miss what He had for you and the person He was reaching misses it too. But if the word was insight for you to pray, or He wanted you to hold it until the right time, and you blurt it out, you can do real damage.

All of us are capable of this. It's a spiritual gift, but every believer has the Spirit of God in them. Until the Lord tells me I can share, I don't. Sometimes it takes the confirmation of another believer. Sometimes it takes separate time in prayer.

Why is John more than a prophet?

Jesus says in Luke 7 that among those born of women there is no one greater than John. Every prophet before him pointed to a day that was coming. John pointed at a person standing in front of him. He's the only one who got to say, behold, the Lamb of God is here.

That doesn't mean prophecy ended. In Acts, Peter says the Spirit was poured out so sons and daughters will prophesy. Anna called out who Jesus was. Philip had four daughters who prophesied. Paul says believers should desire this gift because it edifies. After Jesus, the shape changes. It becomes the gift that builds up the church.

What is John doing with Isaiah?

Exactly what we described. Reminding people of what God already said.

He quotes Isaiah 40, which opens a section written to comfort people in exile. It begins with comfort, O comfort my people, words first given to a defeated nation far from home, with the promise that God Himself was coming to lead them back.

In the ancient world, when a king announced a visit, crews went ahead to prepare the road. They filled washed-out ditches, cut back brush, cleared rocks, straightened switchbacks. A royal visit required a royal highway. Everyone listening understood that image.

But this road isn't made of dirt. Verse three already told us what the construction work is: a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Repentance is the road work. The highway runs straight through their hearts. The King is coming, and not to the vicinity. Through your heart.

Every ravine filled means the low places lifted, which meant something to people buried under Roman oppression. Every mountain brought low means pride, self-sufficiency, and family pedigree get leveled. The crooked made straight uses the Greek word skolios, where we get scoliosis. It means bent or twisted.

Then the tax collectors ask what they should do. So do the soldiers. And John gives them practical answers.

One line I don't want us to miss: all flesh will see the salvation of God. Matthew and Mark quote Isaiah here too, but they stop after the first line. Luke keeps going, because he's writing so people outside Israel, including you and me, would know this story is for them too.

What does God know that you haven't said?

Look at verse 15. The people were wondering in their hearts about John. And then John answered them all.

Nobody said anything out loud. That's a callback to Simeon's prophecy in Luke 2, and it's a pattern you'll see all through this gospel. Jesus answers what nobody says out loud. John does it once here. Jesus does it continually.

A lot of us carry questions we never say. Does God actually see me. Is this ever going to change. Did I hear Him wrong. Am I somehow different, and that's why He doesn't talk to me.

God knows those thoughts. He knew them before you formed them, when they were still just feelings. There is not one thing you've thought or felt that God didn't know about. The things you're afraid to say out loud, He knows. The objections you think you shouldn't have, He knows.

So be honest with Him. Tell Him how you feel. He already knows, and He wants to speak to the fear and the pain and the raw spot, so that He can heal it.

That's part of making the rough way smooth.

Timestamps

00:00 A woman at church, and a word she'd been trying to track down

01:25 Foretelling is the smallest piece of it

02:54 God's voice never contradicts God's word

04:17 Navi, and Aaron speaking for Moses

06:59 Reading Luke 3:3-16

10:48 Public word versus private word

12:40 Prophets called people back to the covenant

13:40 What telling the truth has cost me

17:26 When prophets acted out the message

19:51 Accuracy is not the standard

20:46 Why John is more than a prophet

24:05 John quoting Isaiah 40

26:48 Repentance is the road work

29:06 Why Luke quotes past where Matthew and Mark stop

30:37 They were wondering in their hearts

32:15 The questions we never say out loud

34:49 Prayer

Frequently asked questions

What does the word prophet mean?
The Hebrew is navi, meaning spokesman. The Greek is prophetes, from words meaning to speak forth on behalf of someone.

Is the gift of prophecy still for today?
Yes. In Acts, Peter says the Spirit was poured out so sons and daughters would prophesy, and Paul encourages believers to desire the gift.

Where can I get the free Bible Study 101 download?
On the resources page of my website, including the color method chart.
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Monday Daily Affirmations: Fully Known and Fully Loved (Psalm 139:1-2)

Start your Monday with confidence, peace, and purpose. These daily Christian affirmations are a short but powerful way to realign your heart and mind with biblical truth before the week begins. Today's affirmations are all about identity: who God says you are, and what changes when you believe it. Speak life over your day, renew your faith, and step into God's promises with Scripture straight from His Word.

I'll read each phrase, you repeat it, and then I'll tell you the Scripture
it comes from.

Links

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Before we begin

Take a deep breath. This is a new day filled with God's grace and purpose.
You are not defined by your past, or your mistakes, or the opinions of others.
You are defined by the truth of God's Word. Let these affirmations fill your
heart as you step into today.

Monday affirmations and Scripture

I am a child of God, chosen and loved.
1 John 3:1

I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Psalm 139:14

I am fully known and loved fully by God.
Psalm 139:1-2

I have been chosen before the foundation of the world.
Ephesians 1:4

I am created in the image of God.
Genesis 1:27

I am redeemed and made new in Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17

I am set apart for God's purpose.
1 Peter 2:9

I am God's masterpiece, created for good works.
Ephesians 2:10

I am loved with an everlasting love.
Jeremiah 31:3

I am called by name and belong to God.
Isaiah 43:1

I am not my past. I am a new creation.
2 Corinthians 5:17

I have been bought with a price and I belong to God.
1 Corinthians 6:20

I'm seated in heavenly places with Christ.
Ephesians 2:6

I am co-heir with Christ.
Romans 8:17

I am not rejected. I am accepted in Christ.
Ephesians 1:6

I am never alone. God is always with me.
Hebrews 13:5

I am valuable and precious in God's sight.
Isaiah 43:4

I have been set free by the truth of Jesus.
John 8:36

I am more than a conqueror through Christ.
Romans 8:37

I am a light in this world, shining for Christ.
Matthew 5:14

I am God's dwelling place. His Spirit lives within me.
1 Corinthians 3:16

I am forgiven and free from condemnation.
Romans 8:1

I have a divine purpose and calling from God.
Jeremiah 29:11

I am dearly loved and nothing can separate me from God's love.
Romans 8:38-39

Closing prayer

Father, thank You for reminding me who I am in You. Help me to walk in
confidence today, knowing that I am chosen, loved, and called by You. No matter what comes my way, let my identity be rooted in Your truth. In Jesus' name, amen.

I hope these affirmations spoke to your heart today. If you want to go
deeper, just keep listening. Your full Bible study episode is coming up next.

Listen daily and start your morning with God's truth so you can walk in
faith, clarity, and confidence.

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Sunday Daily Affirmations: I Trust God to Guide My Steps (Psalm 37:23)

Sunday is for looking ahead with God. Before the week begins, we pause and place what's coming into His hands. These Scripture-based Christian
affirmations are a steady way to enter the week grounded, attentive, and
trusting God to lead you one day at a time.

I'll say each affirmation, pause so you can repeat it after me, and then
read the Bible verse it comes from.

Links

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Sunday affirmations and Scripture

I place this coming week in God's hands.
Psalm 31:15 — "My times are in Your hands."

I trust God to guide my steps.
Psalm 37:23 — "The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights
in Him."

I enter this week with expectancy, not fear.
Romans 15:13 — "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as
you trust in Him."

I invite God into every moment ahead.
Proverbs 16:3 — "Commit to the Lord whatever you do."

I trust God to order my priorities.
Matthew 6:33 — "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness."

I receive God's wisdom for the days ahead.
James 1:5 — "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God."

I walk into this week anchored in truth.
Psalm 119:105 — "Your word is a lamp to my feet."

I trust God with what I cannot foresee.
Isaiah 46:10 — "I make known the end from the beginning."

I choose faith over anticipation of stress.
Psalm 56:3 — "When I am afraid, I put my trust in You."

I rely on God's grace for each day.
2 Corinthians 12:9 — "My grace is sufficient for you."

I trust God's timing this week.
Habakkuk 2:3 — "Though it linger, wait for it."

I remain open to God's leading.
Psalm 25:4 — "Show me Your ways, Lord."

I step forward with humility and trust.
Micah 6:8 — "What does the Lord require of you? To walk humbly with
your God."

I depend on God's strength, not my own.
Psalm 68:35 — "God gives strength and power to His people."

I trust God with every conversation and decision.
Proverbs 20:24 — "A person's steps are directed by the Lord."

I choose obedience over control.
John 14:23 — "Anyone who loves Me will obey My teaching."

I walk into this week aware of God's presence.
Exodus 33:14 — "My Presence will go with you."

I trust God to work through ordinary moments.
Zechariah 4:10 — "Do not despise these small beginnings."

I release anxiety about outcomes.
Psalm 112:7 — "They will have no fear of bad news."

I remain attentive to God's voice.
John 10:27 — "My sheep listen to My voice."

I trust God to meet my needs.
Philippians 4:19 — "My God will meet all your needs."

I step into this week with courage.
Psalm 31:24 — "Be strong and take heart."

I trust God to shape my character.
Romans 8:29 — "To be conformed to the image of His Son."

I begin this week grounded in hope.
Hebrews 6:19 — "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul."

I rest in God's faithfulness as I move forward.
Psalm 33:4 — "The word of the Lord is right and true."

Closing prayer

God, as I step into this new week, I place everything ahead of me in Your
care. Go before me, guide my steps, and help me stay attentive to You. I trust
You with what's coming, one day at a time. Amen.



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Saturday Daily Affirmations: I Recognize God's Faithfulness in Seen and
Unseen Moments (Psalm 77:11)

Saturday is a good day to slow down and look back over your week with
God. Not to replay everything or overthink it, but to notice where He met you, where He carried you, and where His grace showed up. These Scripture-based Christian affirmations are a gentle way to reflect with honesty and gratitude before the new week begins.

I'll say each affirmation, pause so you can repeat it after me, and then
read the Bible verse it comes from.

Links

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Join me on an immersive Bible Study Experience. Learn more at BibleStudyLive.org

Have a question? Leave me a voicemail: SpeakPipe

Saturday affirmations and Scripture

I thank God for walking with me through this week.
Psalm 143:10 — "Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; may Your
good Spirit lead me on level ground."

I recognize God's faithfulness in both the seen and unseen moments.
Psalm 77:11 — "I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will
remember Your miracles of long ago."

I release regret and receive God's grace.
Psalm 32:5 — "Then I acknowledged my sin to You... and You forgave the
guilt of my sin."

I trust that God was at work even when I didn't notice.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 — "He has made everything beautiful in its
time."

I give thanks for the strength God provided each day.
Psalm 28:7 — "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in
Him, and He helps me."

I acknowledge where I grew this week.
2 Peter 3:18 — "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ."

I notice where God invited me to trust Him more deeply.
Psalm 37:5 — "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do
this."

I receive God's mercy for where I fell short.
Micah 7:18 — "You delight in mercy."

I choose gratitude over self-criticism.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 — "Give thanks in all circumstances."

I honor the work God has been doing in my heart.
Philippians 1:6 — "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to
completion."

I acknowledge God's presence in ordinary moments.
Psalm 16:11 — "You make known to me the path of life."

I release this week into God's care.
Psalm 55:22 — "Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain
you."

I trust God with what remains unfinished.
Proverbs 16:9 — "In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord
establishes their steps."

I thank God for His patience with me.
Psalm 103:8 — "The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger,
abounding in love."

I rest in the truth that God sees me fully.
Hebrews 4:13 — "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's
sight."

I choose to end this week with gratitude.
Psalm 92:1 — "It is good to give thanks to the Lord."

I release comparison and embrace contentment.
Hebrews 13:5 — "Be content with what you have, because God has said,
'Never will I leave you.'"

I acknowledge God's protection this week.
Psalm 121:7 — "The Lord will keep you from all harm."

I thank God for His provision.
Matthew 6:31-32 — "Your heavenly Father knows that you need them."

I recognize God's quiet guidance.
Isaiah 30:21 — "This is the way; walk in it."

I let go of striving and receive rest.
Psalm 23:2 — "He leads me beside quiet waters."

I honor the limits God has given me.
Psalm 127:2 — "He grants sleep to those He loves."

I trust God with what I do not understand.
Romans 11:33 — "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge
of God."

I receive peace as I reflect with God.
Psalm 4:7 — "You have filled my heart with greater joy."

I end this week grounded in God's faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:23 — "Great is Your faithfulness."

Closing prayer

God, thank You for walking with me through this week. Help me to see Your
faithfulness clearly and to release what I need to let go of. I trust that You
were present in ways I noticed and in ways I didn't. I place this week back
into Your hands. Amen.

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God Saw What Was Done to You: Listener Questions

Today is one of our Q&A episodes, where we take a pause from the Bible study so you have time to catch up and I can work through questions that have come in.

Two questions in this one. The first asks why people with religious roles so often fail to live obediently, which is a pattern running straight through Scripture. The second is harder and I want to handle it gently: why did God protect Cain after what he did, and why do some people lose their freedom because of somebody else's choices?

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Does being close to religion mean you're obedient to God?

Sarah put it in a phrase I keep thinking about: religious proximity does not equal religious obedience.

That's been a theme in Scripture from the very beginning. Adam and Eve were in perfect communion with God. They walked with Him daily. And still, because God gave us free will, proximity didn't produce obedience.

There isn't a day that goes by without someone in a religious role falling into sin. We hear about it constantly. You may have experienced church hurt yourself at the hands of a leader or a pastor. That's the reality of the fall, and it's the story written all through the pages of Scripture.

We've been watching it in Luke. The Roman political system had corrupted the religious leadership of the day, which is the whole backdrop behind the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the religious establishment Jesus keeps encountering. Having a religious role never meant being obedient to God.

What it comes down to is the difference between going to church and knowing Jesus. Some people go to church and then go home and harm their families the rest of the week. Some go hoping it absolves them of what they're doing elsewhere. A great deal of harm has been done in the name of religion. Proximity is not an indication of where the heart is.

And God's remedy for that, over and over in Scripture, is sending Jesus. We can know about Jesus without actually knowing Him, and those are two different things.

My hope for this show, and for the books and the trips and everything else we do, is that you would know Him for yourself. That doesn't mean you'll always get it right. We aren't perfect, which is exactly why we need Him. But being disobedient, feeling the conviction of the Holy Spirit, confessing, and being restored to right relationship through Jesus is the whole rhythm of the Christian life.

Why did God protect Cain?

This question came in from someone working through the Genesis series, and it's one a lot of people carry, usually in different forms. At the heart of it is often a wound. If you've ever been hurt by somebody else's choices, you know the ache in it. Why does the person who caused the harm seem to get mercy while the person who was hurt has no say at all?

Let's look at what actually happens in Genesis 4.

Cain kills his brother in a field. Then God comes to him and says, what have you done, your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. Before God says one word about punishment, He makes it clear that He heard Abel. Abel never got a voice in that field. God gave him one. The first murder victim in Scripture is not forgotten.

Then comes the sentence, and it has layers. Cain is driven from the land, the ground won't produce for him, and he becomes a restless wanderer. He panics and says whoever finds him will kill him. And God puts a mark on him so that no one will.

Here's the detail worth knowing. The Hebrew word for mark is ot, which means sign. It's the same word used for the rainbow after the flood and for the blood on the doorposts at Passover. It isn't a brand of shame. It's a sign of protection.

Why would God protect him?

Two things are happening.

In the ancient world there were no courts and no police. Justice was handled by family members, and it usually meant revenge. And revenge did not stop at one life. Entire families were wiped out in the name of it. You can watch it start just a few verses later with Lamech, Cain's descendant, who brags about killing a man for wounding him and says if Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven. That's what vengeance does when it's left in human hands. The seed of it grows.

So God's protection of Cain puts a limit on the violence before it consumes the whole human family.

And look what Jesus does with that number later. He takes Lamech's seventy-seven and turns it into how many times we forgive. The way of Jesus is forgiveness. There's still justice, but it belongs to God rather than to us.

Protecting Cain is not the same as excusing Cain. He lived with real consequences the rest of his life. The ground didn't work for him, and at that time that was survival. But God also didn't give up on him.

Remember, we're not reading these stories to study the people. We're reading them to see the character and nature of God. Here we see mercy and justice together. That's hard to hold at once, especially when you're the one who was hurt.

Why do some people lose their freedom because of someone else's choices?

God doesn't hand out free will to some and withhold it from others. Every person bears God's image and every person has a will. But we live in a broken world where our choices land on other people. Freedom means the choice to love, and it also means the choice to harm. When someone abuses or wounds or betrays another person, the one who was hurt didn't choose that. Their safety was taken. Their innocence was taken. God calls that evil.

I struggled with this myself for a long time. Years ago in seminary I was working through some childhood trauma with my spiritual director. In my mind, I got saved at fifteen, so I had somehow concluded that anything that happened before that was my own fault for being sinful, or that God hadn't shown up in my life yet.

What my spiritual director said to me then is what I've said to many of you since: the evil that was done to me grieved God too.

He grieves what is done to us. That's part of why He sent His Son.

There's a theological piece here worth naming. We live in what's called the already and the not yet. Jesus has already come, lived a sinless life, completed the work on the cross, defeated death, ascended, and sent the Holy Spirit. But this world is not yet fully redeemed. Until He returns, it isn't finished. So we live in a broken place, and those things break God's heart.

Where is God in what happened?

Scripture keeps showing us a God who moves toward the one who was harmed.

Think of Hagar. She was used and mistreated and left alone in the desert, and she named God El Roi, the God who sees me.

One of my favorite verses to share with people who are hurting is Psalm 34:18, that the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. He knows you will experience heartbreak. This is not the world He designed, and it's why He sent Jesus to redeem and restore it. We're just not there yet.

He also promises justice. Romans 12 tells us vengeance belongs to the Lord, which means nothing done in the dark is overlooked.

And then there's Hebrews 12, which says the blood of Jesus speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Abel's blood cried out for justice. The blood of Jesus speaks healing and forgiveness and restoration. Jesus was the innocent one harmed by other people's choices, and He allowed it so that nothing done to you would be the end of your story.

If you're carrying something that was done to you, I want you to know that God saw it. He grieves it. And He has not stopped working toward your healing.

Timestamps

00:00 Why we do Q&A episodes, and what SpeakPipe is for

01:20 Sarah's question on religious proximity

02:07 Why proximity never guaranteed obedience

03:32 What we've seen in Luke about corrupted leadership

04:01 Going to church versus knowing Jesus

04:30 Knowing about Jesus is not knowing Jesus

06:15 A question from the Genesis series

07:13 The ache underneath the question

07:44 God heard Abel first

08:31 What the word for mark actually means

08:58 Why revenge could not be left to people

09:46 Lamech, and what Jesus does with that number

10:16 Protection is not the same as excuse

11:21 Everyone has free will, and choices land on others

12:20 What my spiritual director told me

13:08 God grieves what was done to you

13:32 The already and the not yet

14:29 Hagar and the God who sees

15:30 Vengeance belongs to the Lord

15:36 A better word than the blood of Abel

16:25 He saw it, and He is still working

16:47 Prayer

Frequently asked questions

What is SpeakPipe for?
Prayer requests and questions about the show or past episodes. It isn't a place for complaints or for counseling.

What does the mark on Cain mean?
The Hebrew word is ot, meaning sign. It's the same word used for the rainbow and the Passover blood, and here it functions as protection rather than shame.

Do I need to listen to the series in order?
No. The content is evergreen and people listen in whatever order works for them.
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