Pizza Ranch Serves

What do you know about the Shepherds in the Bible? In Genesis, shepherding was a noble occupation – the wealthy sons of Isaac and Jacob all raised livestock This changed when the Israelites migrated to Egypt – Egyptians were agriculturalists/farmers

Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

Guest Devotions shared by Ryan, our Chief Administrative Officer. This past weekend my family visited the gravesite of my Mother-in-Law, and we reflected on the dates on her tombstone. Her birthdate and the date of her death.

I’ve had a few people express to me recently their desire to feel closer to God. I believe most people long for a closer and more intimate relationship with Christ from time to time. I know I do. The question is, how can we make this happen? How can we feel closer to God? Well, I believe Scripture points to a thankful heart:

Joseph’s life was marked by ups and downs that God perfectly orchestrated (we often see these as “things that life throws our way”).

We’ve been learning that every book in the Bible, including those found in the Old Testament, has a dominating theme…they point to Jesus. Yes, the Old Testament shows us the heart and character of who God is, but it also points to Jesus. Jesus did not come to eliminate the Old Testament teaching; “I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17-18).

I remember seeing my wife for the first time on our wedding day. My breath was taken away. It was a moment that I’ll never forget. I was in love with her before that special day, but it went to another level as I watched her come down that aisle. When I read the book of Songs of Solomon, I remember that day, but I’m also reminded of a more important meaning found there.

There’s no doubt that Proverbs is one of the best known Old Testament books both inside and outside of Christianity. We’ve found this to be true in our study of Jesus in the Old Testament; He declared that the entire Old Testament was written about him (Luke 24:44). We now have the opportunity to come to every book of the OT seeing that connection to Him. Proverbs points to Jesus in its pursuit of wisdom (Proverbs 1:2).

I often wonder what it would be like to see into the future; imagine what we could do with that information! Imagine being able to see, for example, what the life of your child would be like. What they would do and see, how they would act and live, and even how they would die someday. It might be a little scary. Well, today we’ll see a crazy amount of examples again in the Old Testament…this time in the Book of Psalm.

I often wondered as I grew up why the Old Testament was so important. I thought that the New Testament was what I needed to focus on because of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus….along with all He taught. But, Jesus also taught his disciples that the entirety of the OT actually pointed to Him. So, now I’ve grown to appreciate and see how important OT Scripture is.

We’ve been working through the Old Testament, looking for the New Testament Jesus 100’s even 1000’s of years before He was born. They’re all great stories on their own, but they absolutely paint a picture of who Jesus will be and what he’ll do for those who believe.

In 1942 there was a book written by C. S. Lewis called, “The Screwtape Letters.” It’s a book that takes the form of letters from a Sr. demon named Screwtape, to his nephew and Jr. tempter, named Wormwood. Wormwood is being mentored by his uncle and is responsible for securing the damnation of a particular person. Check this out to see if we can glean some wisdom as we navigate a political storm.