Hearing Jesus: Daily Bible Study and Christian Affirmations

Luke Was Not a Disciple: An Introduction to the Gospel of Luke

We're starting our fall study of the Gospel of Luke, and before we open the text, it's worth knowing who wrote this book and why. Luke was a physician, a careful historian, and the only non-Jewish author in all of Scripture. He wasn't one of the twelve. He never met Jesus. And he wrote for someone who had already heard the stories but needed something solid underneath them.If you have ever felt like an outsider in church, or found that your own faith has gotten a little shakier than you'd like to admit, this is your gospel.

LinksJoin me on an immersive Bible Study Experience. We visit Luke's house in Rome, and our 2027 dates include Greece, Maui, and Rome. Payment plans are interest free. Learn more at BibleStudyLive.org

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Why are we studying Luke and Acts together?

Because that's how they were written. Luke was originally the first of two books, with Acts as the second. Treating them as one continuous work is the way they were meant to be read, and together they make up roughly a quarter of the New Testament. Luke gives us the birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. Acts picks up with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the formation of the early church, and the work of the apostles.

Who wrote the Gospel of Luke?

The book itself doesn't name its author, but the consensus is unanimous and uncontested. Early Christian tradition, along with the writing style and structure, all point to Luke. This isn't one of the books scholars argue about.Here's what surprises most people: Luke was not one of the disciples. He never knew Jesus personally. He was a Gentile who later became a follower of Jesus, which makes him the only non-Jewish author of any book in the Bible. Paul calls him a dear friend and tells us he was a physician. He was educated, careful as a historian, and a theologian.

Who was Theophilus?

The name means one who loves God, which has led some to read it as a title for any believer. That's a fair application, but it's probably not what it meant originally. Luke calls him most excellent, and that same phrase is used elsewhere in Scripture for Roman officials. Most scholars land on Theophilus being a Roman official or at least a man of real wealth and status, quite possibly Luke's sponsor, the person who funded the writing and distribution. Either way, this was a letter written to a specific man for a specific reason.

Why did Luke write a fourth gospel?

Because there was a gap. Matthew wrote for a Jewish audience. Mark wrote a short account for the church in Rome. But Greek-speaking Gentiles had only oral accounts and brief written summaries. They had no complete story of Jesus from a perspective that made sense to them. Luke saw the need, and the Lord led him to fill it. Most of his research was likely done while Paul was imprisoned in Caesarea, and he probably finished soon after arriving in Rome.You can see that Gentile focus in the text itself. Matthew traces the genealogy of Jesus back to Abraham, which is what a Jewish audience would want. Luke traces it all the way back to Adam, because his readers needed to know that Jesus came for all of humanity, not one nation.

What makes Luke different from the other gospels?

Luke's writing (Luke and Acts together) is the longest book in the New Testament and the most comprehensive account of the life of Jesus. It has the most polished Greek. It's the only gospel that shows us Jesus as a young boy. It gives us a large body of teaching and parables found nowhere else, most of it delivered on the road to Jerusalem.Luke also keeps his eye on particular people: the poor, women, widows, children, the sick, the social outcasts. He was a doctor, and he notices things the others don't. He pays close attention to the prayer life of Jesus, to joy, and to the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus and in the lives of His followers. The title he uses most is Son of Man, which holds together that Jesus was fully God and fully man.

What does "exact truth" actually mean in Luke 1:4?

This is the heart of it. Luke states his purpose plainly: so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught. The Greek word behind exact truth shares a root with our English word asphalt, and it carries the sense of something firm and solid, a stable foundation, something that will not let you slip.That's what Luke was after. He wrote so that a man who had already been taught would have something concrete under his feet when life got hard.

Why does that matter for us?

Because a lot of people are walking around with a faith more fragile than they would ever say out loud. You can attend every Sunday and know all the right words, and still find that a hard season, a painful loss, or a stack of unanswered questions has softened the ground underneath you.That's exactly who Luke wrote for. And it's why this gospel is so accessible now. Luke wrote for outsiders, for people with no background and no context, starting from the beginning. The poor, the Gentile, the tax collector, the Samaritan woman, the leper, the sinner, all of them get placed at the center of his story.If you have ever felt too far outside to be included in what God is doing, this is your gospel. And if you haven't felt that way, someone near you has.

Featured quote:

"Luke is saying, I wrote this for you so that you would have something firm and stable to stand on."

Scripture referenced: Luke 1:1-4 (NASB)

Timestamps

00:00 Where we've been, and why the Bible Study 101 episodes matter

00:55 Why we skipped Luke last year, and why we're doing Luke and Acts together

01:48 Reading Luke 1:1-4

02:25 Who was Theophilus, and what "most excellent" tells us

03:41 Who wrote this gospel, and why there's no real debate

04:30 Luke was not a disciple, and he was not Jewish

05:26 What Luke and Acts cover together

06:36 What Paul tells us about Luke

07:29 The gap Luke was filling for the Gentile church

08:26 Abraham or Adam: how audience shapes a genealogy

09:22 What's inside Luke, and what's found nowhere else

10:19 The longest, most literate, most comprehensive gospel

10:49 The marginalized, prayer, joy, and the Holy Spirit

11:26 Why the big picture of Scripture changes how you read

13:18 Luke is the gospel for people who feel like outsiders

14:14 Rachael's own story of walking in with no context

15:14 The faith that's more fragile than we admit

16:39 Asphalēs: something firm to stand on

17:39 Why Luke is a better starting point than most people are told

18:32 What to expect this fall

18:47 Prayer

20:26 Standing in Luke's house in Rome

Frequently asked questions

Was Luke one of the twelve disciples?

No. Luke never met Jesus and was not one of the twelve. He came to faith later and built his account on eyewitness testimony and careful research.

Was Luke Jewish?

No. Luke was a Gentile, which makes him the only non-Jewish author of any book in the Bible.

Should I read Luke or John first if I'm new to the Bible?

There's no bad place to start. But Luke explains things in a way that assumes no background, which makes it an especially good entry point if church language feels unfamiliar.

Why study Luke and Acts as one book?

Because Luke wrote them that way, as volume one and volume two of a single work addressed to the same man.
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Wednesday Daily Affirmations: Jesus Carries My Worries

In today’s Wednesday Affirmations episode, Rachael leads listeners
through declarations of peace, trust, and confidence grounded in Scripture. As the world feels overwhelming, these affirmations anchor the listener in God’s promises. From surrendering anxiety to trusting God’s timing, each statement is followed by a full Bible verse designed to renew faith and calm the heart. This episode is a gentle reminder that God’s peace isn’t just a feeling—it’s a promise.



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Today’s daily affirmations are for peace and trust in God’s plan. I
will say the statement, then pause so you can repeat it after me. Then I’ll
share the Scripture reference where it comes from.

Breathe in God’s peace… and exhale your worries. This day is a
gift, and no matter what’s ahead, you can trust that God is in control. His
love is steady. His plans for you are good. His presence goes before you. Let
these affirmations remind you to trust Him today.

Affirmations and Scriptures:



I am ruled by God’s peace today.

Isaiah 26:3



I cast all my
worries onto Jesus—He carries them for me.

1 Peter 5:7



I will not be anxious. I will pray and trust God.

Philippians 4:6–7



God’s plans for me are good, and I trust Him.

Jeremiah 29:11



I do not need to worry about tomorrow.

Matthew 6:34



I will rest in God’s presence today.

Exodus 33:14



God is my refuge and strength.

Psalm 46:1



I will not let my heart be troubled. I trust in God.

John 14:27



The Lord directs my steps.

Proverbs 3:5–6



Even when I don’t understand, I trust in God’s wisdom.

Romans 11:33



I do not have to be afraid because God is with me.

Deuteronomy 31:8



God is fighting for me.

Exodus 14:14



I am not alone. God walks with me.

Isaiah 41:13



God is my rock and salvation. I will not be shaken.

Psalm 62:6



I find rest in God alone.

Psalm 62:1



God’s love never fails me.

Lamentations 3:22–23



I have peace because I am in Christ.

John 16:33



I wait on the Lord and He renews my strength.

Isaiah 40:31



I will trust in God, even when I don’t see the whole picture.

2 Corinthians 5:7



God is working all things for my good.

Romans 8:28



God’s peace rules in my heart today.

Colossians 3:15



I give my burdens to the Lord and He sustains me.

Psalm 55:22



I will be still and know that He is God.

Psalm 46:10



I trust God’s timing and His ways.

Ecclesiastes 3:11



I will rejoice in the Lord always.

Philippians 4:4



Closing Prayer:

Father, I surrender my worries to You. I choose to rest in Your
peace today, trusting that You are in control. Fill my heart with faith instead
of fear, and let Your peace guard my mind. 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.



#ChristianPodcast #DailyAffirmations
#FaithOverFear #BiblicalTruth #MorningDevotions #RenewYourMind
#HearingJesusPodcast


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Learning His Voice

Jen shares a deeply personal story of meeting Jesus as a young girl, walking through fear, grief, anger, and surrender, and eventually discovering what it means to live in an ongoing relationship with the Holy Spirit.In this conversation, Jen and Silvia explore the difference between simply knowing about Jesus and wholeheartedly yielding a life to Him. Jen talks about learning to recognize God’s voice through Scripture, prayer, relationship, and time—and why anything we believe we are hearing from God must align with His Word and His character. Her story is an invitation to come as you are, keep pursuing Jesus, and discover the Helper He promised.

Check out more from the Echoes of Eden Podcast

IN THIS EPISODE

• Jen’s salvation at age twelve and the later moment she surrendered her whole life to Jesus

• How Christian families and mentors showed her what a life filled with Jesus could look like

• Moving from anger and hurt toward a new way of living

• Why sharing our testimonies can help others recognize Christ

• What it means to be Spirit-filled and continually yielded to Jesus

• Learning to recognize God’s voice through Scripture, prayer, and relationship

• Experiencing God’s presence through grief, suffering, healing, and seasons of darkness

SCRIPTURE & BIBLICAL THEMES

John 10 — Jesus’ sheep know Him, hear His voice, and follow Him.

Colossians 3 — Putting on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and love as part of a transformed life in Christ.The conversation also explores the Holy Spirit as the Helper Jesus promised—the One who teaches, leads, convicts, directs, and empowers believers.

CHAPTERS

00:00 — Meet Jen

03:50 — Meeting Jesus at Twelve

09:45 — The Night Jen Surrendered Everything

17:00 — A New Heart & a New Way of Living

24:05 — What Does It Mean to Be Spirit-Filled?

30:35 — Learning God’s Voice Through His Word

42:50 — The Holy Spirit, Pain & God’s PresenceWhether you have followed Jesus for years, are learning to recognize His voice, or are simply wondering whether there is a place for you in His story, Jen’s testimony offers a simple invitation: come as you are. Spend time in His Word. Talk with Him. Ask questions. Keep pursuing Him.

Pull up a chair. There’s a place for you here.
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Holy Audacity: Stepping Into the Water Before It Parts | Joshua 3 and 4

Sometimes God clears the path before you take a step. And sometimes He asks you to walk into the water while it's still standing there. If you're in a season where obedience feels reckless, where you keep asking who you think you are to be doing this, this conversation is for you. Rachael sits down with her friend Silvia, who she met on the Bible Study Live trip to Italy, to talk about what God did on their recent trip to Maui. Silvia opens up about the insecurity that hit right as she was preparing to launch something God had clearly called her to, the moment another woman spoke truth over her, and how God fought that battle in the space of a few hours.

Then Rachael teaches through Joshua 3 and 4, the crossing of the Jordan, and the twelve stones that were meant to mark what God had done.

Join me on an immersive Bible Study Experience. We're returning to Maui in 2027. Learn more at⁠ BibleStudyLive.org⁠

Listen to Sylvia's new podcast, Echoes of Eden, available now wherever you get your podcasts.

Have a question about the series? Leave me a voicemail: SpeakPipe

What is holy audacity?

It's the phrase that came out of a moment on the Maui trip when Rachael found herself asking how she had the audacity to think she should be doing this at all, and the Lord answered that He was the one who told her to do it. Holy audacity is the nerve to obey something bigger than you, not because you feel qualified, but because God said so. It's a prayer worth praying: Lord, give me some holy audacity moments. Challenge me with big obedience so I can see You show up in a big way.

Why does the enemy attack right before you step out?

Because the initial obedience usually isn't where we get stuck. Most of us say yes. It's the middle of the road where self-doubt, comparison, and insecurity start talking. As Rachael puts it, the enemy attacks in infancy what he fears in maturity. Silvia was being called Lady Wisdom by the other women on the trip at the very moment she was internally convinced she had no business doing what God had asked of her. Both things were happening in the same room on the same day.

What's the difference between the Red Sea and the Jordan River?

This is the heart of the teaching. In Exodus 14, God parted the sea first and the people of Israel walked across on dry ground. A generation later in Joshua 3, they face another body of water, and this time the instruction is different. The priests carrying the ark are told to step into the Jordan while the water is still flowing. The waters don't part until their feet are already wet.It's one thing to trust that God will hold back the water while you're standing on dry ground. It's another thing entirely to step in while the water is still there. The miracle still came and the result was the same, but the method changed, and that change required a different kind of obedience.

Why would God change His method?

Because we have a tendency to chase the miracle instead of the miracle worker. When we've seen God move a certain way before, we start expecting the pattern instead of the Person. Changing the method reorients our hearts back toward Him. Notice too what went first into the Jordan: the ark, the presence of God. His presence goes ahead and makes the way, and then the rest of the people cross.What do the twelve stones in Joshua 4 mean?After the crossing, God tells Joshua to have twelve men take twelve stones from the very place where the priests' feet had stood, and set them down where they camped that night. They were markers, so that when future generations asked what these stones meant, the story would get told again.That's what a marker moment is. A place you can look back to and say, if He did it then, He can do it now. When you're standing at the edge of water that hasn't parted yet, your stones are what you have. It made no sense then either, and He was still faithful. So the question worth sitting with: where are your river stones?

Featured quote:

"It's one thing to trust that He's going to hold back the water when I'm standing on dry ground. It is another thing to step in when there's still water."

Scripture referenced:

Exodus 14:21-22

Joshua 3:8-13

Joshua 4:1-9

Joshua 4:20-24

Psalm 66:16

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome, and how Rachael and Silvia met on the Italy trip

01:28 Deciding to go to Maui, and the tension that came after the yes

03:17 Taking the decision to prayer

05:06 Why these trips grow out of seasons of healing

08:03 What was happening in Silvia's heart on the trip

09:32 Self-sabotage, and the lie that she wasn't qualified

10:01 Bring it to the Lord before you bring it to me

10:31 The woman who grabbed her hand and spoke truth

12:20 Why obedience gets attacked in the middle, not at the start

13:49 Lady Wisdom, and what everyone else was seeing

15:32 The shame the enemy kept returning to

17:33 The dependence that only comes with a heavy lift

19:23 Holy audacity

21:10 Announcing the Echoes of Eden podcast

23:00 Psalm 66:16, and the simplicity of the assignment

26:45 The word marker, and the stones

28:00 Exodus 14 and the dry ground

29:30 Joshua 3, and the call to step into the water

32:15 Why wet feet require a different obedience

32:45 Joshua 4 and the twelve stones

34:10 Chasing the miracle worker, not the miracle

34:30 Why Rachael laid down podcast coaching

35:25 The ark goes first

40:20 Where are your river stones?

41:30 What Echoes of Eden is and who it's for

45:30 Closing prayer

Frequently asked questions

Why did God part the Red Sea before they crossed, but not the Jordan?

The outcome was the same, but the method changed. At the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark had to step into the water before it was cut off. That shift required trust in God Himself rather than in a repeated pattern.

What did the twelve stones represent?

They were a memorial. Each tribe carried one stone from the riverbed so future generations would ask what they meant and hear the story of what God had done.

Who is Silvia and what is Echoes of Eden?

Silvia is a friend Rachael met on the Bible Study Live trip to Italy. Her new interview podcast, Echoes of Eden, gives women space to tell their stories and share where God met them. It's anchored in Psalm 66:16.

When is the next Maui trip?

We're going back in 2027. Details are at BibleStudyLive.org.
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Before we open the Gospel of Luke, there's a question worth answering: what exactly is a gospel? Most of us have read these four books without ever stopping to ask what kind of writing they are, and that one gap changes everything about how we read them. Gospel is a genre. These are ancient biographies of Jesus, written by four different men to four different audiences, and they were never meant to be read the way we read a modern news report. This episode covers why there are four, why they don't always line up, why we can trust them, and how to actually read them well.

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

Have a question about the series? Leave me a voicemail: SpeakPipe

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What does the word gospel actually mean?

Gospel is a genre, and genre simply means the kind of writing a work is. The Bible contains poetry, letters, prophecy, law, and historical narrative, and each one asks to be read differently. The four gospels sit together at the front of the New Testament, and they are essentially biographies of the life of Jesus. Knowing that changes your expectations before you read a single verse.

Why are there four gospels instead of one?

Think about walking into a library and looking for a biography of Abraham Lincoln. A search on Amazon turns up more than ten thousand books about him. Some cover his presidency, some his politics, some his character, some only his childhood, some his views on the Bible, some his war years. Every one of those historians chose what to emphasize. Ancient historians worked the same way. They wrote with clear moral, political, and theological purposes, and readers were expected to draw lessons from the work. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John each had a lens, and a different audience in mind.

Can we trust the gospels?

Yes, and the reasons are worth knowing. These books were written while eyewitnesses were still alive and still holding positions of authority in the church, which means the oral tradition could be checked by people who had been there. They were written within the first two generations, while the teachings of Jesus were still fresh. And the culture itself was built for careful preservation. Students learned their teachers' sayings rigorously, taking notes and memorizing, with some repeating the previous day's lecture before getting out of bed. The disciples of Jesus treated His words that way, and many of them became the teachers passing those words on.

Why don't the gospels always match up?

This is where a lot of readers get stuck, and it usually comes from applying modern expectations to ancient writing. Three things help. First, no one in that culture expected teachings to appear in chronological sequence. Teaching was situational, the way a grandmother's saying comes back to you in the moment it fits rather than in the order she said it. Second, word-for-word repetition was not the standard. Most people could not read, so teaching passed down orally, and paraphrasing was a normal and accepted practice. On top of that, Jesus often spoke Aramaic while the gospels were written in Greek, so His words were being translated. Third, ancient biographers had genuine freedom to arrange their material. When critics point to an event appearing earlier in Matthew and later in Luke, they are holding the text to a standard nobody in the first century used. The heart of the message is what carries.

Why only these four, and not the other gospels people mention?

By the time Luke wrote, other accounts of Jesus were already circulating, and Luke tells us so. Mark was already in use, and many scholars believe Matthew, Luke, and possibly Mark drew on a common written source. The four that the church preserved were kept for reliability, access to eyewitnesses, and accuracy. The apocryphal gospels came much later and read more like novels, drawing from oral tradition that had drifted over generations. The Gnostic collections attributed sayings to Jesus, but the earliest of them date to roughly 120 years after His public ministry, far too late to verify. The early church knew what it was doing.

What is the best way to read a gospel?

Read one all the way through before moving to another. There is a method called a harmony of the gospels that weaves all four together story by story, and it has its place, but it is hard to follow and it is not how these books were meant to be read. Each gospel was written separately, to different readers, with its own flow of thought. Reading one at a time lets you catch what makes that writer distinct. Luke was a doctor, so when you stay inside his gospel you start noticing what he noticed: the women, the healings, the people on the margins. Those details are easy to miss when you are jumping between books.

What should I be looking for as I read?

A few things to carry into the series. Ancient biographies had morals to their stories, setting characters up as positive or negative examples, so ask what the story is showing you about the character and nature of God. Learn to tell the difference between what Scripture describes and what it prescribes, because someone's story appearing in the Bible does not mean we are meant to copy them. And remember this one: Scripture was written for us, but it was not originally written to us. It went first to an ancient audience in a particular culture. Most of them heard it read aloud rather than reading it themselves, which is why it helps to think of them as an audience instead of readers. Before we can understand how the teachings of Jesus apply to our lives, we have to understand what they meant to the people who heard them first.

Featured quote

"Scripture was written for us, but it was not originally written to us. It was written to an original audience that lived a long time ago."

Terms explained in this episode

Genre, synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke overlap significantly, while John is distinct), harmony of the gospels, descriptive versus prescriptive, apocryphal and Gnostic gospels.

Timestamps (approximate)

00:00 What is a gospel, and why start here

01:00 Gospel as a genre, and what that changes

02:00 Why the gospels are not chronological

03:20 The Abraham Lincoln analogy: ten thousand biographies, ten thousand angles

04:50 Who were these writers, and why trust them

06:40 How sayings were preserved in an oral culture

09:00 Why sequence was never the point

11:00 Word for word, Aramaic, and Greek

15:00 The freedom ancient biographers had with their material

17:30 Why only four gospels survived

19:50 How to read a gospel, and why not to jump around

21:20 Descriptive versus prescriptive

22:30 Reading versus hearing, and the original audience

25:00 Synoptic gospels explained

26:20 We learn by teaching

Frequently asked questions

What does the word gospel mean? It refers both to the good news about Jesus and to a genre of ancient writing. In this episode we're focused on the genre, meaning the kind of literature Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John belong to.

What are the synoptic gospels? Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which overlap heavily in content and often tell the same events. John stands apart with a different structure and emphasis.

Should I read the gospels in chronological order? Not for this study. We'll read Luke straight through so we can follow his particular flow of thought and notice the details that are uniquely his.

When does the Luke study begin? Right after this episode. We'll start with an introduction to who Luke was and why his account matters, then move through the text at a spirit-led pace, with Luke and Acts studied together as one work.

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