Tag: Salvation

The Blessing of Strep

On By nataliehmetcalfLeave a comment

I just changed my sheets and my toothbrush. That’s mom code for “I’ve been sick!” Last week I discovered I had strep throat (which I have never had in my entire life- so bizarre!) I was under house arrest Thursday and Friday. Since then James has had some weird virus thing, and I just got back from the pediatrician’s office. Surprise: he has strep too!! I have had ALOT of time at home, and it looks like there is more to come. On the bright side, it has forced me to tend to some areas that needed attention. I finally  tweezed my eyebrows, finished decorating for Halloween, and realized the ferns on my front porch were completely brown. Ha!!

I have also been forced to BE STILL which I think can be one of the biggest blessings, you know what I mean? And the positive of having kids this age is that they are more self-sufficient, so I have had lots of time to just sit with the LORD in His Word, without being rushed out the door. And during that time of stillness, He showed me something, as only He could.

Lately, I have been a little obsessed with the book of Hebrews but it always makes me feel intimidated and overwhelmed, because, hello, have you READ Hebrews??? I can handle the Old Testament language but it’s the heavy doctrine and theology that makes me feel completely inadequate. Reading Hebrews reminds me how much I don’t know. But it makes my heart soar, especially Chapter 11, the Hall of HIS Faithfulness. 😊 I know that for me to really understand Chapter 11, eventually I have to tackle the rest of Hebrews, which has just seemed daunting and exhausting. This week, the LORD stopped me in my tracks through strep throat of all things! I was stuck at home, and I  thought it was now or never. I asked the LORD to show me, to help me understand the deep doctrine and theology in His word, starting with Hebrews 1:1-2 (ESV).

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world…

Well you can guess what happened. I was blown away. I wept as I read how the very radiance of the glory of God offered himself up for us and took on the penalty of the sin we deserved.  I almost had a FREAK OUT as I was reminded how everything down here was just a copy, a shadow pointing to the REAL  sacrificial Lamb to come, God’s perfect son. How Jesus entered the REAL Holy of Holies in Heaven (can you even wrap your head around that??) and made payment for our sins. How it is finished, our sins are forgiven, once and for all, and even now Jesus is our High Priest interceding for us! And by the time I reached Hebrews 9:28, “so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him (ESV),” Moses and I were singing “when we all get to Heaven!!!” At that point my husband said it might be time to call it a night.

What a blessing the LORD gave me in some tough parts of Scripture that take effort to read and time to just SIT and BE STILL. I am by no means saying I understand the book of Hebrews, but the LORD gave me a glimpse. This is my take-away. There are some parts of the Bible that don’t lend themselves as well to “Bible study” in the way many use that term today. We may feel like certain sections and books of the Bible are not as applicable or relevant to us, but that’s not really the point of Scripture, is it? It’s first and foremost about GOD and who He is. And, if I were writing a Bible study on Hebrews 1 and 2, it would be hard to put together a list of application questions, and yet those verses absolutely rocked my world, demanding a response from me. They have been etched in my mind to the point that I had to write this blog post!

Which is what God’s Word does. We are changed by it. Hebrews shows us who Christ is, and we are changed when we behold the “one who is seated at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven… ” (Hebrews 8:1, ESV) What a Savior.

Happy Fall Break everyone!

Natalie

Plans and Promises

On By nataliehmetcalfLeave a comment

Remember the former things, those of long ago: I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, “My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” Isaiah 46:9-10 (ESV)

In this post, I shared my verses for 2017, Isaiah 43:18-19. The LORD through the prophet Isaiah tells us, “Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a NEW thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it!” (ESV) The Jewish exiles were missing out on what God was about to because they were stuck in the past. Sometimes, it can be easy for us to get so bogged down in what has happened, that we are blinded to the fresh new thing God is doing in our midst!

Now, just a few chapters later in Isaiah 46:9-10, we come to these verses, where God tells Israel that they SHOULD, in fact, remember the former things of old. These former things were all the ways God had proven Himself faithful in Israel’s history. And there were many, many instances of His faithfulness. In fact, not one of God’s promises had ever failed! We too should remember the ways God has been faithful in our own lives and take the time to thank Him. He can be relied upon and trusted. Who says Old Testament prophecy has no application for us? 😊

What really jumped out at me from Isaiah 46:9-10 is the phrase “I [God] make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.” This is such an important truth: God has a plan. He has had one from the beginning. What’s even more mind boggling is that He has chosen to make parts of it known. We can go all the way back to the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve disobeyed and plummeted face first into sin. Immediately man was cursed, separated from their Heavenly Father…… But GOD. He had a plan for our redemption. He did not walk away, leaving us to die; no, He had a plan. And the rest of the Old Testament is filled with promises looking ahead to the glorious day of our salvation. God would send someone from the seed of Eve who would crush the head of Satan and redeem us from the curse of sin and death forever (Genesis 3:15).

As we study Scripture, we see hints and shadows of the Promised One in the Mosaic law and the sacrifices, in the things that may seem insignificant, even boring to our modern sensibilities, yet they are anything but. They are pointing to the One to come. When we study the Old Testament in light of the Cross, it changes everything. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 1:20 that “ALL the promises of God find their YES in Him [Jesus].” (ESV) Is that not the coolest verse ever??

2 cor 1 20

We have reason for GREAT JOY that God has a plan for mankind as whole but what is almost harder for me to grasp is that He has plans for each one of us individually. He cares about me and you, like REALLY cares. Psalm 139 tells us that before we were even born, He knew our names and our days. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that He has a plan for us, not to harm us, but to prosper us. Let that sink in. There are how many billions of people (?) and God knows each one of our names, and He has plans for each one. Isn’t there something beautiful and comforting in that truth?

So even in the midst of our heartaches and suffering, our loneliness and disappointment, we can rest assured that HE is in control and that He is working ALL things out for our good if we love Him and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) We serve a God who has had a plan since the beginning, and it comes to fruition in His precious son Jesus Christ. Not one of His promises have ever failed. He is not about to let us down now.

Natalie