Hearing Jesus: Daily Bible Study, Daily Devotional, Prayer, Hearing God & Christian Affirmations

Thursday Affirmations: Remaining Steadfast: Daily Affirmations, Christian Affirmations, Biblical Affirmations, Affirmations

You were created on purpose—for a purpose. In this episode of Daily

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God created you for a reason. Your life is not an accident, and

As you listen to these affirmations, let them remind you that God

I’ll say the affirmation, pause so you can repeat it after me, and

Affirmations and Scriptures:

God has a purpose for my life and I walk in His plan.

Jeremiah 29:11

I trust in the Lord to guide my steps.

Proverbs 3:5–6

I seek wisdom, and God gives it freely.

James 1:5

God is directing my steps and I do not walk alone.

Psalm 37:23

I am a light in this world, shining for Christ.

Matthew 5:14

God has prepared good works for me to do today.

Ephesians 2:10

I am equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:17

I walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:8

I will walk in faith, not in fear.

2 Timothy 1:7

God’s Word lights my path.

Psalm 119:105

I choose obedience, knowing God’s ways are best.

Deuteronomy 5:33

I live with purpose and do not waste my time.

Ephesians 5:15–16

I am called to make an impact for God’s Kingdom.

Matthew 28:19–20

I have the mind of Christ and seek His wisdom daily.

1 Corinthians 2:16

I am a vessel for God’s work.

2 Corinthians 4:7

I will not grow weary in doing good.

Galatians 6:9

God’s purpose for me cannot be stopped.

Job 42:2

I do everything for the glory of God.

Colossians 3:23

God is using my life to accomplish His plan.

Romans 8:28

I am bold in sharing the gospel.

Romans 1:16

I walk in step with the Spirit.

Galatians 5:25

I remain

1 Corinthians 15:58

God will finish the work He started in me.

Philippians 1:6

I live with an eternal perspective.

Colossians 3:2

I press forward in my faith, knowing my reward is in Heaven.

Philippians 3:13–14

Closing Prayer:

Father, thank You for calling me to a life of purpose. Help me

In Jesus’ name, amen.

I hope these affirmations spoke to your heart today. If you want to

Listen daily and start your morning with God’s truth so you can

#ChristianPodcast #DailyAffirmations

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Bible Study 101: How Do You Know If It's God Speaking? Hearing Jesus,

This is the last day of the color method, and yellow is different from

That's exactly why Rachael saved it for last. If she'd handed you all six

This episode covers what to do with what you heard. Three filters to run

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Chapters

0:00 The last color

0:30 Why yellow was saved for last

1:27 What yellow actually marks

1:54 The verse her eight year old highlighted

2:51 Why you would have grabbed yellow first

3:25 Five days looking at Him before one minute looking at you

4:04 Reading John 6:1-15

6:00 God speaks in other ways too

7:02 His voice will not contradict His word

8:20 Reading 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

9:30 The two ditches

10:22 What quench actually means

11:20 The other ditch

12:17 Notice the order Paul puts it in

12:41 What to highlight in yellow

13:33 The three filters

14:17 The third filter, and what happened in Babylon

15:04 What biblical meditation actually is

16:13 How to respond

16:59 Prayer

17:57 Homework

18:31 Don't compare your yellow to hers

What is the color method?

It's a way of studying Scripture that Rachael developed while teaching

You take a short passage and mark it with colored pencils or

This week the passage has been John 6:1-15, the feeding of the five

What does yellow mark, and why is it last?

Yellow marks what God impressed on your heart. It doesn't come from the

And that's precisely why it goes last.

The first five colors are observation. You didn't invent anything, you

Yellow also feels like the most spiritual one. The others can feel like

Rachael learned this at home. Years ago she had her kids highlight

So instead, look at what you actually did this week. You looked at who the passage was about. You looked at what only God could do. You watched who moved first. You found a sentence about a festival that unlocked the chapter. You lined up the numbers and felt the gap between five and five thousand.

You spent five days looking at Him before you spent one minute looking at

Does God only speak through the Bible?

No. Sometimes it's an impression while you're praying. Sometimes it's a

That's the reality of a Spirit filled life.

But God's voice will never contradict His word. That's the standard. Something may come to you outside of your Bible reading, and the way you find out whether it's really Him is by holding it against who He says He is in Scripture. That's how you tell the difference between God, the enemy, and your own head.

Rachael has had someone say something to her that was so damaging it was

What does it mean to quench the Spirit?

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test

The word quench means to put out a fire, to extinguish a flame. Paul is

He's not warning against being too intense. He puts it right next to

What are the two ditches?

Rachael lives in rural Pennsylvania, so she pictures a road with a ditch

In the other ditch are people who accept anything with a spiritual label

Paul answers that one too. Test them all. Keep the good and throw out the

And notice the order. Paul says don't quench first, then test. He doesn't start from suspicion. He starts open to the Spirit and then adds discernment.

What are the three filters?

Before you act on anything you wrote in the margin, run it through these.

Does this match who God is? Not who you want Him to be. Who He reveals Himself to be in Scripture.

Does this line up with the Bible? And not just whether a verse can be attached to it, because anyone can cherry pick a verse. Does it fit what Scripture actually teaches in context. God does not contradict Himself. If something is telling you to do what Scripture says not to do, that is not His voice.

Do I want this to be true? This one is there to check your bias, and it's the hardest of the three. Think about Jeremiah 29. There were prophets in Babylon telling the exiles they'd be home in two years, and God said something specific about them. He said the people were encouraging those dreams. They wanted it to be true so badly that they helped create the lie.

What is biblical meditation?

If what you heard passes all three filters, sit with it.

Meditation here isn't emptying your mind. It's closer to chewing.

You've been doing it all week. You've had John 6 in your teeth. So do

Then respond. Is there something here to obey? Something to confess? Something to thank Him for? Does this change how you see Him? Highlighting it in your Bible is a different thing than the obedience He's calling you to.

FAQ

Do I need to have heard the earlier episodes? No, though this one is the payoff of the week, so the earlier ones will make it richer.

What do I need today? Your marked page and something yellow.

What if I didn't get anything? That happens, and it doesn't mean you did it wrong. Sometimes a passage opens six months later. Write the question you're stuck on in the margin and move on.

Should I compare what I got to what Rachael got? No. She has been teaching this for years, has a seminary degree, and has spent a great deal of time in John. Don't measure one week of the color method against that. It isn't a competition and there's no shame in a shorter list.

What's the homework? Take whatever you highlighted in yellow, run it through the three filters, and then respond however He's calling you to, whether that's obedience, confession, or gratitude. If you'd like more, read the rest of John 6 and mark it too.

What's next? Rachael replays her original teaching on John 6 from last year's John series, then a Q&A episode, then the fall Bible study begins in the Gospel of Luke, followed by Acts. The Hearing Jesus for Kids podcast returns alongside it.

Where can I go deeper on the color method? She Hears, on Amazon, teaches it over six weeks through the stories of six women in the Gospels.

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Wednesday Affirmations: Casting Your Worries: Christian Affirmations, Biblical Affirmations, Affirmations

In today’s Wednesday Affirmations episode, Rachael leads listeners

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Today’s daily affirmations are for peace and trust in God’s plan. I

Breathe in God’s peace… and exhale your worries. This day is a

Affirmations and Scriptures:

I am ruled by God’s peace today.

Isaiah 26:3

I cast all my

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

I hope these affirmations spoke to your heart today. If you want to

Listen daily and start your morning with

#ChristianPodcast #DailyAffirmations

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Bible Study 101: What Do Numbers Mean in the Bible? Hearing Jesus, Devotional

This episode is part of Bible Study 101, a series teaching a method

Today's color is orange, and orange marks numbers and quantities. Numbers

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Chapters

0:00 The last color of the week

0:37 What orange marks

1:18 Why numbers matter in Scripture

1:46 Verse numbers are not inspired

2:40 A caution about 11:11 and chasing numbers

4:35 What numbers tell you about scale

5:57 What gematria is, and where it goes wrong

7:49 Scripture was not written as a puzzle

9:13 The guardrail

10:11 A listener in a country where following Jesus costs something

11:29 Reading John 6:1-15

13:25 Marking the numbers

17:20 Line the numbers up in order

18:39 What John is actually doing

19:08 Twelve baskets and twelve disciples

20:35 What does this mean, not what does this mean to me

21:05 Why there were leftovers at all

22:23 Who had to carry the baskets

22:55 Prayer

23:49 Homework

What is the color method?

It's a way of studying Scripture that Rachael developed while teaching

You take a short passage, ten to fifteen verses, and mark it with colored

The colors aren't the point. You can't put a color on a word without

What does orange mark?

Numbers and quantities that appear in the text itself. Five loaves, two

It also covers quantity words that aren't digits. Every, none, both, few,

Are verse numbers part of the Bible?

No, and this matters. Chapter and verse numbers were added centuries

So John 6:6 doesn't get marked. The number six in that reference isn't

Is 11:11 a message from God?

No. And this is where Rachael spends real time, because numbers in

Some people treat repeating numbers like 11:11 as a personal signal, and

What is gematria, and should Christians use it?

Gematria is a Jewish practice of assigning number values to Hebrew

Rachael's caution has three parts. We aren't reading Hebrew, so applying

She learned about it in seminary, and points out that seminary also

Was the Bible written as a code to crack?

No. Scripture wasn't written as a puzzle. It was written to be

The plain meaning of the text, what the words say in their context,

How many people did Jesus actually feed?

More than five thousand. Probably closer to fifteen thousand.

Verse 10 says about 5,000 men were there. In that culture, counting the

It's one thing to say Jesus fed people. It's another to hold five loaves

What are the numbers in John 6:1-15?

Verse 2: a great crowd. Vague on purpose.

Verse 5: a great crowd again. John says it twice. Repetition is

Verse 7: half a year's wages, which some translations render as

Verse 9: five loaves, two fish, so many. And notice

Verse 10: plenty of grass, about five thousand men.

Verse 11: as much as they wanted.

Verse 12: all, enough, nothing wasted.

Verse 13: twelve baskets, five barley loaves.

What happens when you line the numbers up?

Something deliberate.

You start with a vague crowd. Philip converts it to money, and 200 days

Then the miracle, and John refuses to quantify it. As much as they

Then he counts again on the other side. Twelve baskets.

John establishes how impossible the math is in two directions through two

What do the twelve baskets mean?

It's hard to read twelve in a gospel and not think of the twelve

But here's the question worth sitting with. The miracle was complete when

And yet Jesus stops and tells them to gather it so nothing is wasted, and

Who picks them up? The disciples. The same men who had been running the

Jesus made sure they had to handle the evidence with their own hands. Rachael's read is that this miracle

FAQ

Do I need to have heard the earlier episodes? No. This one explains what it needs

What do I need to follow along? A Bible or a printed copy of John 6:1-15 that you're comfortable

What if a passage has no numbers in it? That happens, and sometimes more than one color goes

Is it okay to write in my Bible? Yes. There's an episode earlier in this series that deals with that

What's the homework? Write two numbers in the margin next to verse 10. Five and five

What's next? Yellow, the last color, and the most important day of the week. Rachael

Where can I go deeper on the color method? She Hears, on Amazon, teaches it over six weeks through the stories of six women in the Gospels. All the Scripture is printed in the workbook, so you don't have to write in your Bible if you'd rather not.

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This Tuesday episode offers powerful, Scripture-based affirmations to help you step into your week with boldness, peace, and purpose. As the world demands more, God invites you to rely on His strength. Through these promises, you’re reminded that you are never alone, never powerless, and never without purpose.

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Today’s daily affirmations are for strength and confidence for the week ahead. Whatever this week holds, you are not facing it alone. God is with you—strengthening you, guiding you, and fighting for you. No matter what challenges you encounter, you can walk in faith knowing that God has already prepared the way for you.

Affirmation: I am strong and courageous in Christ.

Joshua 1:9

Affirmation: I do not fear because God is with me.

Isaiah 41:10

Affirmation: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:13

Affirmation: I am victorious through Jesus.

1 Corinthians 15:57

Affirmation: I have the power of God working within me.

Ephesians 3:20

Affirmation: I will not be shaken because God is my refuge.

Psalm 62:6

Affirmation: I walk by faith, not by sight.

2 Corinthians 5:7 

Affirmation: No weapon formed against me shall prosper.

Isaiah 54:17

Affirmation: God fights my battles and I need only to be still.

Exodus 14:14

Affirmation: I am not afraid because God has overcome the world.

John 16:33

Affirmation: I have authority in Christ over every attack of the enemy.

Luke 10:19

Affirmation: I am rooted and established in God’s love.

Ephesians 3:17

Affirmation: I have divine wisdom and strength for today.

James 1:5

Affirmation: I am resilient and I will persevere through trials.

Romans 5:3-4

Affirmation: I am filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:8

Affirmation: I will not grow weary in doing good.

Galatians 6:9

Affirmation: God’s grace is sufficient for me.

2 Corinthians 12:9

Affirmation: I have peace that surpasses understanding.

Philippians 4:7

Affirmation: I am never alone. God is always near.

Deuteronomy 31:8

Affirmation: I am protected under the shadow of the Almighty.

Psalm 91:1

Affirmation: God’s Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Psalm 119:105

Affirmation: I stand firm in faith and do not waver.

James 1:6

Affirmation: I am free from fear because God’s perfect love casts it out.

1 John 4:18

Affirmation: I have a spirit of power, love, and sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7

Affirmation: God is working all things for my good today.

Romans 8:28

Closing Prayer

Lord, I surrender my fear to You. Fill me with boldness, courage, and confidence in You. No matter what today holds, I trust in Your strength. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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

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Bible Study 101: Why Does John Mention the Passover in John 6? Hearing Jesus, Devotional

This episode is part of Bible Study 101, a series teaching a method

Today's color is purple, and purple marks timing. Words like then, after,

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Chapters

0:00 What we're doing this week

0:28 The difference between reading and studying

0:55 What purple marks

1:24 Why timing is so easy to miss in Scripture

2:30 The two things timing words do for you

3:53 Reading John 6:1-15

5:41 Marking the timing words

8:29 Back to verse 4

9:23 What Passover actually is

10:26 A crowd in a wild place with no food, during Passover season

11:33 This is not a story about a picnic

12:03 Why the crowd calls Him the Prophet

12:46 Why this is the argument for the whole method

14:19 Writers don't waste sentences

16:06 The grass, and the green pastures

17:03 The mountain, twice

17:32 Prayer

18:20 Homework

What is the color method?

It's a way of studying Scripture that Rachael developed while teaching

You take a short passage, ten to fifteen verses, and mark it with colored

The colors aren't the point. The point is that you can't put a color on a

What does purple mark?

Timing. Think of purple as the clock.

You're looking for when something happened, how long it took, what came

Why does timing matter so much in the Bible?

Because Scripture handles time in a way that reading a normal book

There are 400 years between the end of the Old Testament and the

Timing words do two things. They tell you the order events happened in,

What are the timing words in John 6:1-15?

Verse 1: Sometime after this. Right at the start. And notice what

Verse 3: Then Jesus went up on a mountainside.

Verse 4: The Jewish Passover Festival was near. Mark this one even

Verse 5: When Jesus looked up.

Verse 6: He already had in mind what He was going to do. That's

Verse 10: There was plenty of grass in that place. Mark this too,

Verse 11: Jesus then took the loaves.

Verse 12: When they had all had enough to eat.

Verse 14: After the people saw the sign.

Verse 15: He withdrew again to a mountain. And notice what

Why does John mention the Passover in John 6?

Because it tells you what kind of story you're in.

Passover is the meal Israel ate the night before God brought them out of

And remember what happened right after that rescue. They went out into

Now look at this scene. A huge crowd in a remote place with no food. It's

This is not a story about a picnic. John put one sentence in verse 4 that gives you the frame for the whole passage.

Why does the crowd call Jesus the Prophet?

Because of everything above. In verse 14 they say, Surely this is the

That's not a random title. In Deuteronomy 18, God said He would raise up

And they weren't wrong. Which is what makes verse 15 land the way it

Why is this the argument for the whole method?

Because of how it was found.

For four days that verse sat white on the page. No people, so no green.

The only reason it got looked at is that purple forced a stop on it and

There's nothing special about the colors. If this method doesn't work for

Two small details worth noticing

Verse 10 says there was plenty of grass in that place. That seems

And the mountain shows up twice. Verse 3, He goes up. Verse 15, He goes

Writers don't waste sentences

John says at the end of his gospel that he saw many things Jesus did that

Rachael works as a ghostwriter, and she'll tell you that when someone is

So out of everything that could have been included in this scene, one

FAQ

Do I need to have heard the earlier episodes? No. This one explains what it needs to as it goes.

What do I need to follow along? A Bible or a printed copy of John 6:1-15 that you're comfortable marking, and something purple. You can print the passage free at Bible Gateway.

Do I need special supplies? No. Colored pencils from a kid's school supply drawer work. Wax Bible highlighters are nice because they don't bleed through, but a pencil will do.

Is it okay to write in my Bible? Yes. If that makes you uneasy, there's an episode earlier in this series that deals with it directly, or use a printout instead.

What if I mark different words than Rachael does? That's fine. Some words go either way, and God shows different things to different people from the same text.

What's the homework? Pray. Then read Exodus 16, or just verses 1 through 15, which is the account of God feeding His people with manna in the wilderness. Then come back and look at your page again.

What's next? Orange. It's the shortest color of the week and it matters more than it looks like it will.

Where can I go deeper on the color method? She Hears, on Amazon, teaches it over six weeks through the stories of six women in the Gospels. All the Scripture is printed in the workbook, so you don't have to write in your Bible if you'd rather not.

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Monday: I Am Called By God: Daily Affirmations, Christian Affirmations, Biblical Affirmations, Affirmations

Start your day with confidence, peace, and purpose through these Daily Affirmations for Adults. Each episode is a short but powerful way to realign your heart and mind with biblical truth. Speak life over your day, renew your faith, and step into God’s promises with Scripture-based affirmations.

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Here are your Monday affirmations. I will read the phrase, then you

Take a deep breath. This is a new day filled with God’s grace and

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

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

Father, thank You for reminding me who I am in You. Help me to

I hope these affirmations spoke to your heart today. If you want to

Listen daily and start your morning with

#ChristianPodcast #DailyAffirmations

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Sunday: I Am Aware of God's Presence:  Daily Affirmations,

Today is about looking ahead with God. Before the week begins, we

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Repeat after me, then listen to the Bible verse.

I place this coming week in God’s hands.

Psalm

I

Psalm

I

Romans

I

Proverbs

I

Matthew

I

James

I

Psalm

I

Isaiah

I

Psalm

I

2

I

Habakkuk

I

Psalm

I

Micah

I

Psalm

I

Proverbs

I

John

I

Exodus

I

Zechariah

I

Psalm

I

John

I

Philippians

I

Psalm

I

Romans

I

Hebrews

I

Psalm

Closing Prayer:

God, as I step into this new week, I place everything ahead of me

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Saturday: Nothing Is Hidden From God: Daily Affirmations, Christian

As we slow down today, this is a chance to look back over the week

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Repeat after me, then listen to the Bible verse.

I

Psalm

I

Psalm

I

Psalm

I

Ecclesiastes

I

Psalm

I

2

I

Psalm

I

Micah

I

1

I

Philippians

I

Psalm

I

Psalm

I

Proverbs

I

Psalm

I

Hebrews

I

Psalm

I

Hebrews

I

Psalm

I

Matthew

I

Isaiah

I

Psalm

I

Psalm

I

Romans

I

Psalm

I

Lamentations

Closing Prayer:

God, thank You for walking with me through this week. Help me to

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Why Did Jesus Walk Away From a Crown?

This episode is part of Bible Study 101, a short series teaching a method Rachael calls the color method. The idea is simple. You take one passage, and instead of reading it once and moving on, you go through it several times marking different things in different colors. Each color answers a different question, and by the end you can see things on the page that you'd never catch reading at normal speed.

This week the passage is John 6:1-15, the feeding of the five thousand. Today's color is red, and red marks the action words. Once the whole passage is covered in red, you can go back and ask a question that changes how the story reads: who is actually doing all of this? The answer is that Jesus starts every single thing, and everyone else responds. Which makes the very last verse land differently, because it's the one moment the crowd tries to move first.

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Chapters

0:00 Where we are in the series

0:30 Red is the color people overthink

0:59 What counts as an action word

1:56 The picture test

2:50 Reading John 6:1-15

4:46 Marking the passage verse by verse

5:16 When a word needs more than one color

7:45 The words that could go either way

8:14 Repetition is not an accident

8:42 Verse 11, and why John slows down

10:20 The last action in the passage

10:45 What all that red tells you about the kind of writing you're in

12:09 Why verse 11 is the center of gravity

12:38 Now go back and look at who is acting

13:31 Jesus initiates. Everyone else responds.

14:32 Verse 15 and the crown

16:11 Prayer

17:22 Homework

What is the color method?

It's a way of studying the Bible that Rachael developed years ago while teaching sixth and seventh graders who had never been shown how to read Scripture for themselves. She later published it in her first book, She Hears.

You take a short passage, ten to fifteen verses, and you mark it with colored pencils or highlighters. Each color stands for one question. Green marks the who, meaning every name, title, and pronoun. Blue marks the supernatural, the things only God could have done. Red marks the action words. There are three more colors coming later in the week.

The point isn't the colors. The point is that you can't put a color on a word without making a decision about that word, and you can't make a decision without slowing down enough to actually read. Most of us skim familiar passages without realizing it. This makes skimming impossible.

What passage are we in?

John 6:1-15, the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus is followed by a large crowd, He asks Philip where they'll buy bread, Andrew finds a boy with five loaves and two fish, and Jesus feeds thousands of people with it. The passage ends with the crowd trying to make Him king.

We're spending the whole week in these fifteen verses, adding one color a day.

What does red mark in the color method?

Red marks the action words. The verbs.

But red is the color people overthink, so use the picture test. Could you watch this happen? Would it show up on a video? Running, walking, sitting, healing, handing something to someone. If you can see it happening, mark it.

Technically words like is, was, and had are verbs too. You can't picture "was," so leave it alone. You can picture "sat down," so mark it. That's the whole rule.

What if a word needs more than one color?

Mark it twice. In verse 2, the word "healing" is red because it's an action, and it's also blue because healing is something only God can do. That overlap happens constantly, and it's telling you something. God is active, so the things only He can do tend to also be things He is doing.

Some words could go either way. In verse 9, "how far will they go" is about food stretching rather than a person moving. Rachael would probably mark it. You might not. There's no wrong answer.

What does repetition in Scripture mean?

It's not an accident.

Look at verse 10. Jesus said, have the people sit down, and then they sat down. Same action twice, once as the instruction and once as it happens. The writer had a reason for including both.

You often can't see repetition until you've marked it. Once it's in color on the page, it jumps out.

Why does John slow down in verse 11?

Because he's pointing at something.

Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted.

Took. Gave thanks. Distributed. Three deliberate movements in a row, each one named separately. John could have written "Jesus fed them" and moved on. He didn't.

When a writer slows down like that, pay attention. Verse 11 is also the verse with the most blue in it, which makes it the center of gravity for the whole passage.

How can you tell what kind of writing a Bible passage is?

Look at how much red is on the page.

This passage is covered in it. People cross water, climb a hill, sit down, eat, gather, leave. Things happen in sequence. That's a historical narrative, a story about events that took place.

Now compare that to a passage in Romans, where Paul is building an argument. You would find almost no red at all, because nobody is doing anything. They're thinking. Poetry looks different again, and so does law.

So red is one of the fastest ways to identify what kind of text you're holding, and you don't need a study Bible or a class to do it.

Who is actually doing the actions in John 6?

Go back through and track it.

Verse 1, Jesus crossed. Verse 3, Jesus went up and sat down. Verse 5, Jesus looked up, saw, said. Verse 6, Jesus asked. Verse 10, Jesus said. Verse 11, Jesus took, gave thanks, distributed. Verse 12, Jesus said. Verse 15, Jesus withdrew.

Now everyone else. The crowd followed, saw, sat down, ate. Philip answered. Andrew spoke up. The disciples gathered and filled.

Jesus initiates. Everyone else responds. He moves and people follow. He speaks and people sit. He gives and people eat. He asks a question and Philip answers. Nobody in this entire passage does anything that Jesus didn't start first.

That's not something you catch reading at speed. You see it when the actions are marked and you go back and ask who is doing them.

Why did Jesus walk away when they wanted to make Him king?

Look at verse 15, the last action in the passage. Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

Hold that against everything else you just marked. Fifteen verses of Jesus initiating. He crosses, He climbs, He asks, He takes, He gives. And the one moment the crowd tries to initiate something, He leaves.

They had just been fed. They had just called Him the Prophet who is to come into the world, and they weren't wrong about who He is. But what they wanted to do next was put a crown on Him by force, and He wanted no part of that. They were looking for a king who would deal with Rome and keep the bread coming.

That last action tells you something about the distance between what people wanted from Jesus and what He actually came to do. John ends the passage right there on purpose.

FAQ

Do I need to have heard the earlier episodes? No. This one explains what it needs to. If you want the full method from the beginning, start at the episode on writing in your Bible.

What do I need to follow along? A Bible or a printed copy of John 6:1-15 that you're comfortable marking, and something red. You can print the passage free at Bible Gateway.

Do I need special supplies? No. Colored pencils from a kid's school supply drawer work fine. Wax Bible highlighters are nice because they don't bleed through, but a pencil gets you most of the way there.

Am I going to have to remember grammar rules? No. Use the picture test. If you can watch it happen, it's red.

What if I'm marking different words than Rachael? That's fine. Some words genuinely go either way, and God shows different things to different people from the same text.

Can I pause the episode? Yes, and you should. There's no race and nothing is being graded.

What's the homework? Pray and ask God to show you something you haven't seen before. Then go back through the actions you marked and count how many of them Jesus does.

What's next? Purple, and there's a phrase in this passage we've been walking past all week that changes how the whole thing reads.

Where can I go deeper on the color method? She Hears, available on Amazon, teaches it over six weeks through the stories of six women in the Gospels. All the Scripture is printed in the workbook, so you don't have to write in your Bible if you'd rather not.

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