Why Should You Read the Old Testament?

He asked, “We’re New Testament Christians – why should we read the Old Testament?”

The first and most important reason is because the Old Testament consistently points to Jesus. The Lord told the Jewish religious leaders “the Scriptures [what we know as the Old Testament] testify about me . . .” (John 5:39). On the road to Emmaus, the resurrected Jesus started with Moses and all the Prophets [again, what we know as the OT] and “He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27).  The Old Testament adds depth and detail to our understanding of Jesus. It sets the foundation for the New Testament. “Jesus in the Old Testament” is a fascinating and enlightening study.

Secondly, because there is tremendous insight and encouragement in the Old Testament Scriptures. Paul declared, “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope” Romans 15:4

When I need understanding or reassurance I look in the Old Testament. When I am discouraged, I turn to the stories of God’s deliverance of His people in Exodus. When my life has fallen apart I turn to Nehemiah and remember how God enabled them to rebuild the walls. When I face frightening situations Esther is my go-to place as I remember how God rescued His people. And when the world looms dark and evil, I turn to Daniel and witness God’s sovereign control over human events.

The Old Testament is filled with evidence of God’s power, purpose, love, and faithfulness. The God who created the universe. delivered Israel, rebuilt Jerusalem, and rescued the Jews is the same God I call on in my season of difficulty. I know He is able to do for me today all that He did for them then. I put my name in those verses of rescue and promise and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob becomes the God of Dorcas Elizabeth. He hasn’t forgotten how to rescue and restore. His power hasn’t diminished one bit.

Beloved, if you need a closer, deeper look at Jesus, or if you just need some encouragement and hope, dig into the Old Testament Scriptures. The Word of God – Old and New – is light and life and nourishment for your soul.

Bible Lessons with My Cat

My cat doesn’t know Jesus, but she teaches me some valuable spiritual lessons.

We keep Celina’s dry food bowl full so she can nibble throughout the day (kind of like I do), but every morning when I come into the kitchen she sits by her bowl and cries for food – even though there’s still plenty there! I dump the old food back into the plastic tub we store it in, and scoop it right back up into her bowl. This morning as I set her bowl before her I said, “Celina, you do realize that I’m giving you back the same stuff that was in there.” But she attacked it like it was something new and wonderful.

The world treats us the same way, my friends. When we cry to the world to have our desires met what we receive is the same old thing that failed to satisfy us yesterday and the day before. The world has nothing new to offer us; when we feast on worldly things we’re always hungry for something more. Only God can satisfy.

Another lesson she teaches me is about trust.  When I pick up her bowl and head to the cabinet, she follows me, sticks her nose right in the middle of what I’m doing, and watches intently to make sure I do it right.  She meows as if she’s telling me how much food to put in the bowl.  The thought occurs to me – how often do I bring an issue to God and follow Him around, giving my opinions and expectations for the solution? As if I know better than the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe. “God if You would just . . .” I’m learning – ever so slowly – to stop telling God what to do and just tell Him about the need. He never fails to come up with better solutions than I ever could.

Jesus said that those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness . . . will be filled” (Matthew 5:6). Isaiah said, “Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31). Your Father’s provision is always fresh, and He will always meet your needs perfectly – without your help. Don’t be like Celina, Beloved. Trust God to give you exactly what you need, exactly when you need it, and plenty of it.

Can You Really Know God?

Several years ago, during a deep, dark season, God asked me a question: “Child, who am I?” “You’re God,” I replied. “Who else could You be?” He answered, “Yes, I am God. Yet there is so much more to Me than you realize. I want you to know Me, then tell others about Me.” Know God? How can I know the Indescribable? God is far too big to fit into my finite little mind. But He had spoken to me, and His words were very clear. The purpose of my life is to know God and to make Him known.

Not many days later, I came across a Scripture that has become my life verse: Jeremiah 29:13, which says “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.” I knew that this would be a life-long search, and I knew it would not be truly complete until I stood before Him in heaven. But I had His promise in His own words – “I will be found by you…” (Jeremiah 29:14a). The beauty of this verse is that God promises that as we intentionally seek Him, He will make Himself available to us. Through the years I have come to know God in amazing and wonderful ways, yet I haven’t even scratched the surface of who He is.

Incredible, isn’t it? The God who created and rules the universe wants you and me to know Him. He has said so over and over in Scripture. But we won’t stumble over Him on our way to something else. To “seek” God means we actively invest in all the places and ways He reveals Himself. He gave us the Bible so we could know Him through His Words. Seeking God means reading and studying and meditating on and memorizing His Word. Oh, and obeying. Obedience opens the door to a greater revelation.  He sent His Son Jesus to reveal Himself to us. You will not find God apart from Jesus Christ (John 14:6). Even the world that surrounds us was designed to draw us to Him (Romans 1:19-20).
Beloved God is not hiding from you. He wants you to know Him…so much so that He has invited you to pursue Him with the promise that you will find Him. I’m on that life-long journey – won’t you come with me?

When I See Jesus Face-to-Face

One day I will look in the face of Jesus and I will see that everything I believed by faith was true.

He is good.

He lived a perfect, sinless life.

He is the King of heaven and earth.

He loves me.

He calmed storms around me and in me.

He overcame darkness and evil.

He met my every need.

He made the blind see.

He made the deaf hear.

He made the mute speak.

He made the lame walk.

He made the sick well.

And He made the broken whole.

He ran to meet me on the road back to Him.

He carried me when I couldn’t take another step.

He held me when my heart was breaking.

He raised the dead to life.

He called and anointed me.

He gave me rest.

He brought peace in the middle of chaos.

He brought Joy when I was brokenhearted.

He is everything He claimed to be.

He not only gave me hope but He was my hope.

He made a way when I couldn’t see any way.

He turned this filthy sinner into a spotless saint.

He is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

He prays for me.

He died for me.

He rose from the grave.

He is with me to the end.

And when the end comes, I’ll be with Him forever. And my faith will be proven right.

“For now I see through a glass darkly: but then shall I see face to face. Now I know in part: but then shall I know even as I am known.” (1 Cor. 13:12)

Today I see by faith, and that is enough for me.

In the Storm with Jesus

Mark 4:35-40 is the familiar story of Jesus calming a storm at sea. As He and His disciples tried to make their way across the water there was a “furious squall, and waves [breaking] over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped” (v. 37). A storm at sea was a terrifying thing and the disciples wondered if they would survive. As they fought the wind and water, we wonder, “Where is Jesus?” Was he holding to the lines to keep the sails from twisting? Was He bent over with bucket in hand, bailing out the water that threatened to sink them?  No – “Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion” (v. 38). What on earth!?  What kind of person sleeps through a storm at sea? One who is not afraid. But the disples were and they awakened Jesus saying, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” Then Jesus “got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm” (v. 38-39).

Storms in life have a similar effect as storms at sea. They are terrifying and we wonder if we will survive. We also wonder sometimes, “Where is Jesus?” “Does He even care about what’s happening to me?” But before we answer those questions, there’s something else I want us to see. Before they all climbed into the boat Jesus told them, “Let us go over to the other side” (v. 35). Before the storm hit, Jesus has given them His word that they would all reach “the other side.” When He spoke, it was assured, though they still had to ride through the storm. That’s where you and I need to settle our peace. Right in the promise He spoke before the storm. Did He say, “Take care of your sick, grumpy family member.”? Did He say, “Let go of your precious granddaughter and trust Me.”? Did He say, “Go be My witness in a hostile workplace.”? Did He say, “Move your family to a far-away mission field.”? Then find the peace you need in the assurance of His words. When Jesus speaks it is accomplished. He will not call you to failure and no storm will ever render His words null and void.

Mark 5 starts with these words: “They went across the lake . . .” Jesus kept His word to the disciples. He will keep His word to you too Beloved. All the way to the other side.

With All Your Heart

This is the story of the spiritual downfall of a king. It’s also the story of how any one of us can fall out of love with God. 2 Chronicles 25 is the account of Judah’s King Amaziah. Amaziah obeyed the Law of God in some circumstances – where it suited him, but not in others. That sounds familiar. When the king led his troops to war against the Edomites, it suited him to disobey God. “When Amaziah returned . . . he brought back the gods of the people of Seir.  He set them up as his own gods, bowed down to them, and burned sacrifices to them” (v. 14).  Because of his unfaithfulness, God brought the army of Israel to destroy the city’s protective wall, loot the temple and the palace, and take hostages back to Israel. This isn’t meant to be a political statement, but the king’s failure cost his nation greatly.

There is so much here that we can unpack and it all stems from verse 2, the defining statement of Amaziah’s life: “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly.” Amaziah’s heart was divided, which meant that his devotion to God was divided and it showed. The lure of other “gods” pulled him away from the Lord God.

 A half-hearted devotion to God is a wholehearted rejection of God. Here’s the bottom line: you are either all in or you’re not in at all. Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other” (Matt. 6: 24). His immediate context was about wealth, but the principle is the same. As the great missionary, Hudson Taylor said, “Christ is either Lord of all or He is not Lord at all.”

You and I cannot love God and the world.  We cannot love God and money. We cannot love God and status.  We cannot love God and lust.  We cannot love God and alcohol or drugs. We cannot love God and . . . any other thing. (Now, I am certainly not saying we cannot love our families or our church or people – we love them because God loves us.) If we’re wholeheartedly devoted to God, there’s just no room for other loves in our hearts; God takes up the whole thing.

Beloved, does God have your whole heart? Is it time to reevaluate your loves?

Holy Light

“The lamp (light showing the way of truth) of the LORD searches (examines, tracks down) the spirit (breath, life) of a man; it searches out his inmost being (heart, chamber, bedroom, the most intimate part of the heart),” Proverbs 20:27.

When I am searching for something important – keys, wallet, phone – I turn on every available light and look throughout the room. I move things that might be covering up what I’m seeking. I may call for help in my search.  I  go back where I’ve already looked, just in case I missed it the first time. I check every corner, hunt through drawers, closets, and shelves, and keep searching until I find it.

God has a holy light, a brilliant, powerful light that illumines every corner and crevice of our lives. When we read His Word, He shines that spotlight on you and me, searching our hearts and minds, our thoughts and intentions, our desires and passions, and our actions. At the same time, His Spirit moves everything we use to cover over our hearts. He looks far deeper than we even know exists, to the most intimate levels of our being, to the place where we find the truth about ourselves. His purpose is to locate and root out everything in us that does not meet the perfect standard of His children. It is the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:11).

I need this holy light of truth to examine my life, to track down everything in me that is not conforming to the image of Christ. I need God to search out every offensive way in me (Psalm 139:24). In the deepest part of my heart, there are passions and desires – and as I’ve learned this week fears – that need to be crucified to Christ Jesus (Col. 3:5; Gal. 5:24) if I am to truly love Him and be a vessel for His glory. I want to be fully open to the Spirit’s examination. I want Him to freely roam throughout my heart, mind, and body and expose me to the core. That is frightening, but it will release me from the bonds of my flesh and the world. Beloved, will you let the Word and the Spirit do a sanctifying work in you?

It Came to Pass . . .

“So it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made” (Genesis 8:6)

When my son was a baby, a friend gave me some great advice: “Remember, the Bible says, ‘It came to pass,’ not it came to stay.” You can bet I passed it on to my daughter-in-law when my granddaughter was born. Those long sleepless nights will eventually pass and she will sleep through the night. Teething and colic eventually pass. When I spend a couple of hours holding her while she sleeps I remember that these days will pass all too quickly and I’ll miss watching her peaceful face. It’s good parenting advice, but it’s also good life advice.

We will all face difficult days and seasons. But it’s helpful to remind ourselves that those days come and go – they are not forever. In those times I look back at Noah’s story and remember that after many, many days aboard the ark, it came to pass that the waters began to recede and Noah opened the window to let out the dove and let in the fresh air and sunshine. My troubles will pass and so will yours.

Another way to look at this is that the days of our lives come to pass not to stay and the opportunities before us and the people around us are also not permanent.  I have many regrets over things I knew the Lord wanted me to do that I thought I could get around to later. But later never came and the window closed. This past year has taught me, as it has so many of us, that the people we love cannot stay in our lives forever. I never dreamed my big brother would be in heaven before the year’s end. I know many friends for whom COVID has caused great grief. Jobs and business were shown to be temporary, and even the highest office in the nation passed from one hand to another this year.

So here is my advice: Don’t fret the sleepless nights of parenthood, nor the difficult days of life. It does not seem so in the middle of it all, but they will pass. And don’t waste the opportunities God gives you, nor time with the people you love. Life on earth comes to pass, not to stay. Make it count Beloved.

The Road Ahead

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).

The image on my GPS only showed the next several hundred yards in front of me.  But I wanted to see my present location in relation to my destination – a bigger picture.  We live in the moment, in the hours of our days, looking at our weekly schedules and our monthly calendars, planning for college and retirement thinking we’re wise in our future forecasts.  But life isn’t just about our plans for the here and now.  Life – real life – is eternal, and the greatest lesson I’ve learned is to have an eternal perspective in all things.

I’m learning to evaluate every situation and circumstance and consider what kind of impact it will have in eternity. Yes, this life hands us some very hard and painful things. Paul wrote: “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (v.17).  Though they often do not feel “light and momentary,” in the reality of eternity, they are just one tick on the clock of forever. 

This eternal perspective affects my desires too.  When I start to feel the pinch of envy, I remember that Jesus is preparing an eternal place for me that the world’s finest custom-built home can never match.  I will wear a robe of righteousness forever that no fashion designer could ever create.  I will have a perfect body that doesn’t require hours in a gym.  Even the events of this world don’t seem so overwhelming when viewed in the light of eternity.

When we have a “bigger picture” of life that culminates in eternity, we understand the journey we are on and the route before us.  We can traverse twisting roads, sharp turns, long stretches, and detours with the assurance that none of these will stop us from reaching our final destination – heaven and the presence of God forever.  Beloved, I encourage you to widen the view before you and trust the One who is leading you.  This life with all its heartache and struggle is part of the journey to your perfect eternal destiny.  Let’s travel on together with our hearts set on forever.

Help – I’ve Fallen Behind in my Bible

I’m running late this morning, but there’s a good reason.

Our granddaughter slept with us last night, and early this morning I was trying to figure out how to slip out of bed for my quiet time. I began to fret because every time I tried to wriggle away she would cry and pull in closer. I resigned myself to stay in bed and spend that time praying.  After an hour or so she started waking up and turned horizontally on the bed with her head against me and her feet on Poppy’s chest.  He started tickling her feet which made her giggle. And I sensed God say to me: “You haven’t missed a thing this morning stuck in the bed with her. This is holy to me too.”

Twice yesterday someone confessed to me that they had gotten off track with their Bible study and devotions because of sickness or busyness in life and they felt so guilty for it. I understand – I’ve done the same thing. Physical therapy twice a week has sometimes squeezed out Bible time. And then there are seasons when I had a sour attitude or a spirit of discouragement and pushed the Bible aside – even though I knew it was the very thing that would help me. My friends also acknowledged something I found to be very true as well – when we picked back up in the Bible or devotions, God met us with the very word we needed at that time – a word that wouldn’t have resonated so deeply any other time.

God wants us to develop holy habits and spend time with Him and in His Word. It’s where He speaks to us and teaches us and helps us put down deep roots and grow. But He never meant for our time with Him and His Word to be a rigid rule that must never be missed. Several times in the Gospels Jesus took the liberty to heal on the Sabbath – a definite rule-breaker. But He knew the suffering of people was more important than the rules. God is not limited by anybody’s rules. Please understand, I’m not advocating abandoning Bible study – The Word of God is vital to your Christian growth, But I am saying don’t let yourself get racked with guilt for falling behind. God’s not going to beat you up for it, Beloved. He’ll meet you where you are and love you back to where He wants you to be. Now, just pick up where you left off.