Nothing has strengthened my faith and transformed my life more than reading through the four Gospels every month. When I began, 59 months ago, I followed a much weaker Jesus than I do today. Much of this was due to my theological training which taught me that I was to follow Jesus in his teaching and discipleship ministry, not in his supernatural ministry. This because the Lord performed miracles and deliverances to validate his claim to be the Messiah. Once this was established by the Lord and his disciples, the need for miracles passed away.

And so when I started reading through the Gospels I didn’t think the Lord’s supernatural ministry relevant today. Looking back I can’t recall praying for a single sick person with the expectation they would be healed. And nobody was.

My anti-supernatural view began to crumble when I decided to jettison my previously held beliefs and take what I read in the Gospels at face value. Once I did this I realized I was skipping over many of the Lord’s promises to impart his followers with supernatural power.

It wasn’t long before I began to pray for people and sometimes see them healed. And yet, my deeply ingrained skepticism caused me to question the very miracles I was observing with my own eyes. My deeply ingrained skepticism flooded my mind with doubts supported by evidence that explained what happened without a miracle.

And yet I kept reading through the Gospels month after month. Finally, after reading the Lord’s story for 24 consecutive months I decided I would no longer entertain my doubts. About this time I began to follow the Lord’s example and kick demons out of people who were enslaved to lust, fear, anger, depression, despair, addictions and a host of other strongholds. The outcome of this blew my mind, and still does.

I’m sharing this with you because I hope my experience will encourage you to give Jesus a fresh look this year. Set aside your preconceived ideas about Jesus and read his story over and over again just to get to know him. As you read ask him to speak to you. Ask him to empower you.

If you’ll accept this challenge and join me in reading his story every month for one year, I’m confident your life will be transformed. And so will your ministry. If you decide to do this, let me know as I’d love to hear what the Lord teaches you.

Your reading will be made easier if you’ll get a copy of The Jesus Story. Since it blends the four Gospels into a single narrative, removing all repetition, the story will flow with greater clarity and power. Plus, by removing repetition the story is one-third shorter.

Jesus considered his words so important he said this, “If you abide in my word, then you are truly disciples of mine.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).