The Old Testament is such an amazing blessing, as we read through the rich pages of our heritage as believers we see what an awesome and perfect God we have. I think the more I read it, the more I fall in love with the Old Testament. Even more so, as I see the picture of Christ and all that He did for me as I read of the requirements not only of the law, but of the sacrifices...I'm continually humbled because it is ONLY the grace of God that provides for the sacrifice once for all (Heb 10:10), and has credited Christ's righteousness to my unworthy account. Sometimes it can be tough reading through the pages of the laws, and the numbers and history, I think sometimes in our walk we too easily dismiss the Old Testament...but what we find when we dig and in commit to God to read His word and trust that everything He has included in it is for His glory and our good, is tucked throughout the amazing records of our Christian heritage wonderful verses that cut to the core of Christianity. Such a verse was waiting for me the other morning as I trekked to my closet to spend time with my Lord. The beauty of His word grabbed my heart in the midst of penalties for sins and descriptions of offerings...
Again, the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to take tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners. And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the LORD and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, and that you ma remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God." Numbers 15:37-40 NKJV
We don't wear tassels much nowadays, but we do have the written word of God, and also a million and one office supplies! What am I getting at? Well...so clearly God tells us, we must put in our direct sight His words and His commandments so that our hearts and our eyes which are PRONE to harlotry, will not wonder but will obey His commands...that we may be holy for the LORD! We are His people, a chosen nation, a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9)!! How exciting is that? And yet with that same excitement and joy comes responsibility. We are responsible for seeking God. am I talking about legalistically waking up each day and begrudgingly seeking Him or reading His word? Absolutely not, put best by John MacArthur, "the redeemed heart longs for communion with God" As believers in Christ our hearts are meant to LONG for Him. There is within each of us a passion and desire for God that He alone gives and He alone fills! This is the most liberating thought in the entire world! Christ alone creates me and my needs, and Christ alone meets my needs! Greatest of which was and is the need for salvation...which very tenderly the Lord brought me to on June 5, 1995...Praise Him!!
What I am talking about is that there are so many ways that we can keep God's word before ourselves, before our eyes that we will not sin against Him, but rather that we would turn from the harlotry that our hearts and eyes are prone to and seek Him. One practical way is to get a bunch of index cards and in your daily quiet time, write the verses that the Lord really impresses on your heart, post them around your house..in your bathroom, or in the kitchen..wherever you know that you will look so that your mind and heart will be filled with the word of our Lord! So, go to a local office supply store and find something that works for you, maybe it's white board..maybe it's a chalk board (however '80's that may be!) get something that you can journal verses of scripture to surround yourself with. I think if you're a mother or a wife, involve your family, there is no greater thing than to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord (2 peter 3:18) with the ones you love. I can't tell you what a delight it is to my soul to sit with a fellow sister in Christ, or with my children or with my amazing husband and recount what the Lord is teaching me, and listen and absorb what the Lord is teaching them...I love to be encouraged by the Word through the lives of fellow believers, it deeply blesses my soul!
As I was studying this verse in Numbers the Lord led me into James, "But He gives more grace. Therefore He says, 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.' Therefore submit to god. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you, cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the LORD, and He will lift you up." James 4:6-10
The grace that God gives is greater than anything we experience, any excuse we have for not getting into the word. I'm busy, I don't have time..I just can't get up early...whatever it is, God's grace is bigger than that. What I mean by that is this, if you cry out to God and BEG Him for the discipline to be in His word, and the discipline to seek His face...He will give it to you, because His grace is greater than any excuse you can come up with and He wants your heart! He doesn't just want it for salvation but also for sanctification! He wants to bless you with the truth of His word! He wants you to know it, to live IN it. See, the more you are in the word of God the more you will see so many things...you will see that God's word is SO very real and SO very applicable no matter how long ago it was written. You will find an answer to any need...any question any doubt...you will find it...because God's word is! It is all we need...man does not live on bread alone but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Duet. 8:3).
Ladies you have accepted the invitation Christ placed on your life, now accept His desire to commune with you daily in His word...not out of duty but out of delight! This is our Saviour...the ONLY one who loves us to the depths! The One who set out resolutely for Jerusalem knowing that He would endure the Cross, and knowing that in so doing, He would draw you and I into intimate relationship with Himself..to save our souls and to allow us the privilege of naming His name and making His name known to those that do not yet know it!
Do not hesitate to ask a friend to keep you accountable for being in the word...ladies...NO believer is an island. We can not make it without one another, that is why God clearly demonstrates community in the Bible. We need one another to encourage each other towards Him (1 Thes 5:11).
"Oh the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgements and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor? Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him? For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be the glory forever. Amen" Romans 11:33-36
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