July 3: His Story
It’s true that the Bible is a history book—it’s “His” story, the story of our Lord Jesus. From the opening creation account in Genesis when God the Father spoke God the Son (the Word) into action and the Spirit hovered over the deep, we have seen the second person of the Trinity, Jesus, in the narrative. As the old saying goes, “The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed; the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.” God’s chosen people led to His choosing of anyone who would accept His Son. The tabernacle and temple sacrifices were precursors to the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made for us on the Cross.
All the way to John’s Revelation we see Jesus. In Revelation chapter 22, the very last chapter of the whole Bible, Jesus identifies Himself as “the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last… the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star” Revelation 22:13 and 16 (NKJ).
So since the whole Bible is the story of Jesus, today’s encouragement is to find Jesus whenever we read the pages of Holy Writ. Philip is our example. In Acts chapter 8, we read of a time when the angel of the Lord instructed him to go through the desert on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza. On that road, Philip ran into an Ethiopian eunuch who just happened to be reading writings by the prophet Isaiah. The man didn’t understand what he was reading, and Philip “opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him” Acts 8:35.
As we read Scripture, we must keep in mind that the words are His story and are not only for us. His story and His words were meant to be shared, so we ought to be able to start anywhere in the Book and “preach Jesus.” Worship God today for revealing Himself to us through His Son Jesus and all through His book, the Bible.
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©2014 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.
Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,
Boomerangs to Arrows: A Godly Guide for Launching Young Adult Children
available from Judson Press (http://www.judsonpress.com/product.cfm?product_id=17387),
at bookstores, and on all major online book buying sites.
Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2JH_gbinMk
Also still available:
Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame
from New Hope Publishers (http://www.newhopedigital.com/2010/08/power-suit/)