"JESUS: FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT TO THE NEW"

Good Evening to All!

I'm going to attempt this again.  I constantly think about posting my blog, but I have so many irons in
the fire, I get overwhelmed and become stagnant.

Hopefully, this will be the post that returns me to the feeling I had before when I posted.

I am in the middle of a book, that I am really enjoying.  It is a One Year Book, titled Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament.

What got me started on this book, was the fact that like so many others I always wanted to "skip" the Old Testament and get to the "meat of things" such as Jesus' teachings, salvation, and things that would pertain to us today.

This book has showed me in NO UNCERTAIN TERMS that Jesus is brought up all through the Bible.  If not directly, then indirectly.  The Old Testament is a lot more than just history.  For example tonight's reading had to do with Israel.  Hosea described God's relationship with Israel as a loving father with a son:  "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt"  (Hosea 11:1).  Even though Israel was God's son, this son was disobedient and disloyal.  For Israel to experience all of the Father's blessings of the covenant it would require another son.  He would have to walk in perfect obedience before him in Israel's stead.

Throughout the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew showed that Jesus did exactly that.  He applied this statement from Hosea to Jesus:  "Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and the stayed there until Herod's death.  This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet :  'I called my son out of Egypt'", (Matthew 2:14-15).  Another instance is when the Children of Israel crossed over the Red Sea, so after baptism "Jesus came up out of the water" and a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son of whom I am well pleased".  This is found in Matthew 3:16-17.  Just as Israel faced temptations and failed, Jesus faced them, and because he had the spirit of God in him, he succeeded Matthew 4:1 revealed to us.  Just as it stated in Isaiah 44:3, God had promised through his prophets to "pour out my spirit on your descendants", Matthew wrote  that Jesus saw the Spirit of God descending down upon him like a dove and settling on him" (Matthew 3:16).

There are many other types and shadows in the Old Testament pointing toward the New Testament and Jesus Christ.  These are just a few.

I hope that the next time you pick up your Bible, you will look at the Old Testament differently.  Look at the Bible as a "whole", not two sections.

Have a wonderful night and May God Bless You!

THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH

 Good Evening to All!

The inspiration of my post tonight came from a question which I read on a Facebook page called the Christian Life.  The question was asked "Why should we read the Old Testament?"I have known so many people who only like to read the New Testament, because it deals with Christ, Salvation and the early church.  What they don't understand is that to have full understanding we need to read Both Testaments.  One of the comments made on this page was,   "There are a couple of places which mention Christ in the Old Testament".   I remember my Pastor talking about all kinds of types and shadows pointing to Christ in the Old Testament, so I decided to delve into it a little deeper.
People today want to go the easiest route possible.  They only want to read what they think is relevant to our lives today. They don't understand that even though something may be brought up much earlier, it can still be important on down the line.  

We always need from beginning to end to get the whole story.   An analogy I think about in my personal life is when I tried to make Christmas cookies from scratch.  The first (and only) time I tried to make them, rather than reading the WHOLE recipe first, I saw the list of ingredients, so I just started going down the list and putting them in the bowl.  AFTER I got everything in the bowl and mixed up, THEN I saw the "procedure", where it said to mix the DRY ingredients first, then put the butter, (eggs, beaten, (not just thrown in), and so on.  When I took my cookies out of the oven, they were hard as a rock.  

If I would have read the WHOLE RECIPE first, I would have been successful with making delicious, chewy Christmas cookies.   That is what the Old Testament does.  It sets the scene for what is to come.


When we study the Old Testament, we find what are called types that are fulfilled in the coming of the Messiah. In these types, there is a correspondence between people, events or rituals of the Old Testament and Jesus Christ. For instance, the Passover was a foreshadow or type of the blood of the Lamb of God who would take away our sin and free us from bondage, who's covering would spare us from judgment, and who's mark separates and distinguishes us from the world. 


Other types are shadows, such as the Passover and the killing of a spotless lamb. "For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us," Paul told the believers at Corinth (1 Corinthians 5:7).   The stories and events of the Old Testament were given to us for examples and for our instruction. Paul said to the Corinthians concerning the stories of Israel's redemption from Egypt and their wanderings in the wilderness, "Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.... Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them..... Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed.....

 There are many more examples of types and shadows, but even direct prophesies are brought up as in Psalms 2:7, where He says:  I will declare the decree:  the Lord hath said unto me, "Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.  These verses speak about the preexistence of Christ.  This leaves the reference verse of Acts:13:33 --  God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it  is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.  Other references in the New Testament are John 8:58, which was confirmed by Christ, and Colossians 1:15-19 in which He is proclaimed by the apostles.


The birth of Christ is predicted in Isaiah 7:14; Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.  The New Testament reference is Luke 1:35, which says:  And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee:  therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.  Of course His birth is fulfilled in Matthew 1:18-25, and the fullness of time, or His actual birth is brought out in Galatians 4:4 which says But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law,....

His deity is prophesied by Isaiah 9:6; For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:  and the government shall be upon his shoulder:  and his name shall be called Wonderful, Consellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.  This is referenced in the New Testament; Matt. 28:18, and Hebrews 13:20.

There are references to Him all through bringing out inferences of his humanity in Genesis 3:15 which declares:  "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between they seed and her seed; it shall bruise they head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

In Daniel, 9:24, the prophet talks about Christ's mission, which is to bring in everlasting righteousness. 

Before I decided to develop an intimate relationship with Christ rather than just calling myself a Christian and going to church sometimes, I made the same mistake as many people do.  I looked at the Bible as it was two separate books in one.  The Old Testament which was history, and the New Testament which was about the Coming of Christ, Salvation, and how to Live for Him. 

The deeper relationship I develop with Jesus, the more I enjoy the Old Testament because I get deeper into it and am able to understand how the two Testaments combine to give us the WHOLE PICTURE.
   
Good Night to All and May God Bless!


 

Bible Challenge - "KINFOLK OF THE NEW TESTAMENT"

Good Evening to All!

Last week's Bible Challenge was all about the Kinfolk of the Old Testament, so I didn't think it would be fair to not "shine a light" on the New Testament as well, so. . . . On With The Challenge!

1. Who was younger: Jesus or His cousin John the Baptist? (Luke 1:35-2:7)

2. The New Testament mentions four earthly brothers of Jesus. Name two of them.
(Mark 6:3)

3. Mary and Martha of Bethany had a brother who was the subject of one of Jesus' most astonishing miracles. What was his name? (John 11:1-2)

4. Of which tribe of Israel was Paul descended? (Philippians 3:5)
a) Judah
b) Levi
c) Benjamin
d) Joseph

5. What was the relation between Lydia and Ananias?
(Acts 5, Acts 16)
a) wife and husband
b) sister and brother
c) mother and son-in-law
d) no known relation

6. John Mark's mother was an early Christian named ________. (Acts 12:12)
a) Drusilla
b) Mary
c) Rhoda
d) Deborah

7. Because of John Mark's one-time act of desertion, his cousin ______ had a dramatic falling-out with Paul over whether to keep John Mark as their traveling companion.
(Acts 15:36-40, Colossians 4:10)
a) Silas
b) Barnabas
c) Timothy
d) Titus

8. Timothy's parents were of what disparate nationalities? (Acts 16:1)
a) Jewish and Greek
b) Jewish and Roman
c) Persian and Macedonian
d) Samaritan and Macedonian

9. What relative of Paul once exposed an assassination plot against him?
style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 153, 0);">(Acts 23:12-35)
a) brother
b) wife
c) sister
d) nephew

10. This man's family was reported by Paul to be the first believers in Achaia (lower Greece).
(1 Corinthians 16:15)
a) Achaiaus'
b) Stephanas'
c) Corolacas'
d) Philemon's



Questions taken from "Bible Challenge" Small Facts from the Big Book by Daniel E. Harmon

Good Night to All and May God Bless!

Spin With Joy

Good Evening to All!

A quick announcement before we get started. As of Monday, I have signed up along with Families Again.com to read the complete New Testament in 3o days. I have Never read this much at one time in my life. I have read the Bible through in a year several times, but I'm the type of person who will start something, quit for a few weeks and then work like crazy to get caught up. This CANNOT BE DONE with this particular endeavor. I will actually have to stick with it no matter what. Please keep popping in with your encouragement. I will definitely need it.

The picture in the upper left is a new fun thing that I've joined into . It's also been introduced by Tim. Actually, I started from Redheadriter, but I think she started it from Tim. Anyway, it's also through Families Again.com This one is husband's being interviewed by their wives asking certain questions. Check it out ! It's pretty neat!

Tim, I want to thank you for inviting us to join you to sign up. This will not only increase my knowledge, (as every time I read the Bible I get a deeper meaning of everything), but it will also teach me discipline. So again I thank you.

If there is anyone else who would like to sign up, just go to Families Again.com and it will lead you to where to sign up and print out your reading schedule.

Also, I wanted to apologize if I have written this specific devotion before. While learning the ropes of blogging, I forgot that I should keep a record of the devotions I use so I wouldn't be redundant. Hopefully, there are some readers out there like me with short memories and won't remember reading this before. LOL! I will keep better records this year, I promise.

With that said, let's move on to :

Devotional: Spin With Joy

***I have a special announcement as of this a.m. (Friday) . I have been worrying and aggravated over my blogfrog widgets Recent Visitors and Community. For some reason, for about the last 2 or 3 weeks they wouldn't show up on my screen. Every one else could see them, but not I. All of a sudden, this morning I checked my blog and there they are! I had written to blog frog over a week ago and had gotten no reply. I checked after seeing the widgets on there this morning and there was still no e-mail. I don't know what happened in the natural world, but I think God saw how upset I was getting and fixed it. I didn't want to lose any of y'all who might have been trying to participate in my blog frog discussiions, I couldn't even participate because I couldn't see them. Anyway, ALL IS WELL with my BlogFrog! Yea! Redheadriter, I'm back in the "game"! Thank you Lord!

OK, I'm calm, I was dancing around, but I'm calm now. On with my message! Thank you.



Today's Seed: "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
Psalm 118:24

What a glorious day! What? It's raining? The forecast is for the rain to turn to sleet? Then to freezing rain? with a possible tow feet of snow by morning? So, what's the problem? What a glorious day! God mad this day. Let's embrace it and be joyful.

There are days, however, when we just don't feel like rejoicing. Our lives are out of sync, and we just want to crawl into our cave and hibernate. But that's the perfect day to reread today's seed, and know that God is always here for us.

Psalm 118 is a hymn of thanksgiving, rejoicing, over all God has done. It begins and ends with a call to praise, repeating this verse---"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever" (Psalm 118:1, 29). Repetition is always a clue that the repeated phrase is important.

The psalmist used this chapter to praise God for his many blessings. He thanked God for past blessings, for God's help with past struggles, for God's might, for God's love,m for everlasting life, for his salvation, and for God's light that shines on us all. The Psalms show us a great way to approach life.

With a little effort we can always find something fort which to be thankful. And thankfulness has a way of developing into joyful celebration. We'll be enveloped in God's love, and then we'll rejoice in that love like the psalmists. sun, rain, sleet, or snow, we can rejoice.

Dig Deeper: The Hebrew word for "rejoice" is guwl, which means to spin around under the influence of an emotion such as exceeding gladness, to be joyful. Allow your joyfulness to show.

Weed & Water: Each day is a gift from God. It's like a beautifully wrapped present, tied with a bow, just waiting for us to open and see what's inside. Children opening presents Christmas morning spin around in glee. It's so easy as adults to become self-conscious and to stop ourselves from expressing enthusiasm and joy. When no one is looking, try spinning around as you praise the Lord. You 'll probably end up laughing-- and that's the whole idea.

Sprout & Scatter: Perpetually pleasant people can be annoyingly fake. But the psalmist wasn't fake. He acknowledged his troubles, and then chose to focus on God's blessings. Next time things aren't going well or the weather isn't what you had hoped for, acknowledge your difficulties. Then try humming or singing this seed. Your joyful spirit can bring joy to others.

Think about it:

How can you show that you are rejoicing in the day God has created?

What can you do on those days when you just don't feel like rejoicing?


Prayer Pot:

Lord, I praise and thank you for.... ( insert your own praise and thanks)



Take Away Idea: Spin Around with Joy!



Good night and May God Bless!

Love & Prayers