12282024 Unchanging God

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of our unchanging God. In a few days, we will all change out one calendar for another. In anywhere from one week to six months, we will get used to writing 2025 instead of 2024.

The year ahead will hold changes for each of us. Some of them will be welcome changes and others not so much. Some changes we will know about ahead of time or at least see them potentially coming, but others will be surprises.

In thinking about the changes to come, I wanted to encourage us to take heart in our unchanging God. “For I am the LORD, I change not” (Malachi 3:6). This verse is very positive in its context. The Israelites were unfaithful, but God remained faithful and therefore did not destroy them.

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8). Men will change, and some men will try to change God’s message (v. 9), but God and His message do not change.

What comfort and confidence we can have because of our unchanging God. We don’t know what 2025 will bring, but we know Who will walk with us each day. May the coming year be both busy and profitable in the work of the Kingdom. God bless you as you faithfully walk in His service.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA

12212024 Christmas

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of Emmanuel, who came to provide salvation for all who will accept His inestimable gift.

Christmas and missions go hand-in-hand, as illustrated by this verse: “And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people” (Luke 2:10).

The gift announced by those good tidings is still offered to all people. May you see some of those around you accept that gift even during this Christmas season. And may God fill you with the joy of what His gift means to you and your family. Merry Christmas!

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA

12152024 Jonah the Great Missionary

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of our great God who is able to speak to the hearts of men. Often when people pray for the unsaved, they pray that God would send someone across their path to share the gospel. It’s not a bad prayer, because “how will they hear without a preacher?” But I always wonder why we don’t pray more often that God would draw them, because no man can come unless the Father draw him (John 6:44).

Jonah is an incredible example of this idea. There was a preacher, although a rather stubborn and unwilling one. Yet everyone that Jonah came into contact with believed in God. Why? It certainly can’t be because of Jonah. It was because God drew them.

In chapter 1, God drew the heathen mariners. When the great storm arose, their first instinct was to call “every man unto his god” (1:5). They were introduced to the true God when Jonah admitted he was running from Him, and they were impressed by the true God’s power. They began praying to God (when Jonah apparently didn’t) in 1:14. When the storm ceased, “the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows” (1:16).

Next stop – Ninevah. God was set to destroy the city because “their wickedness [was] come up before [Him]” (1:2). What happened? When Jonah shared God’s message of coming destruction, “the people of Ninevah believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth” (3:5). The king of Ninevah laid aside his royal clothing, went into mourning, and declared a fast (3:6-8). He called on his people to “cry mightily unto God” and to “turn every one from his evil way.” This was an incredible revival in a very large city – tens of thousands of people turning to God because God drew them.

Jonah wasn’t very happy about the result when God spared the city due to their repentance. It is almost shocking to read his angry response in 4:2 – hard to believe any servant (or child) of God would think this way. In essence, Jonah complained, “See. That’s just why I didn’t want to come. I had a feeling You might just forgive them instead of destroying them. And I’m so upset by the result that I wish I could die rather than see it.” What!?!?

I’m not trying to imply that any of you are like Jonah! You are serving God willingly and have strong desires that the lost would come to God. But if God can draw so many people through such an unwilling servant, can He not draw men through willing servants also? Keep giving the message, and may God draw the hearers to Himself.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA

12072024 Unstoppable God

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of the unstoppable God. When God makes plans, He carries out His plans.

Man does not have the wisdom to stop God’s plans. “There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD” (Proverbs 21:30). These three words (wisdom, understanding, counsel) work together to cover any potential angle of how smart man might think he is. Man cannot skillfully think up a better solution through his wit or experience (wisdom). Man cannot naturally devise a better solution through his discretion or reason (understanding). Man cannot corporately plan a better solution through advice or collaboration (counsel).

The bottom line is that God’s wisdom exceeds anything that man can come up with. God doesn’t have to work at wisdom. He doesn’t have to consult history. He doesn’t have to ask anyone else. God knows. Society today is plagued by cyberattacks, in which devious men find ways to infiltrate even the most secure systems. But there is no such success when it comes to God’s plans. Men can try as hard as they want, with the best intelligence that they have, to plan something that will overthrow what God has determined – but man will never win.

Man also does not have the power to stop God’s plans. “The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD” (Proverbs 21:31). Man can make the most thorough preparations and battle plans, thinking he can overpower or reverse what God has determined. Man will never win that one, either.

I think this verse is perhaps ambiguous on purpose. Who is preparing the horse? If verse 31 is connected to verse 30, the preparation is done by the enemy of God. The conclusion is that all of that man’s efforts are vain and insufficient. As servants of God, we can rest assured that man’s attacks against us are no match for God’s ability to protect us.

It is also possible that the preparing is done by God’s servants. They make themselves as ready as they can for what they might face. They take appropriate measures to avoid risk and to allow the maximum hope of success. It certainly is wise to see the danger ahead and to prepare. But the bottom line is that our own preparations are not what ultimately protect us. When we are kept safe, it is because God kept us safe.

Either way, the conclusion is the same. We don’t have to fear man, nor do we need to fear that our own preparations are too feeble. We can confidently trust that God is the one who watches over us. In spite of others or in spite of ourselves, God is in control.

If no one is wise enough or strong enough to stop God’s plans, then we can walk forward in our service for Him, knowing that He will accomplish all that He has intended.

May God protect you and prosper His plans in your lives and ministries. There is much activity in this month of December, and the success in that activity will come from our unstoppable God.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA

12012024 God Is Different

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of the God who is different from me. When I say different, I mean infinitely better.

Consider this comparison.

Me: “My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass” (Psalm 102:11).

God: “But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations” (Psalm 102:12).

Yes, I am frail, fragile, and finite. God is firm, fixed, and forever. The focus of this comparison is on time, but the fact that man’s time is so brief is evidence of just how weak he is. Thankfully, we can depend on a God who never dies nor declines.

This is just one comparison. We could make many more. God’s love compared to my love. God’s compassion compared to my compassion. God’s faithfulness compared to my faithfulness. God’s wisdom compared to my wisdom. God’s power compared to my power. And so on.

These comparisons make me very glad that I have such a God. Clearly, I am weak and deficient. I need someone greater than me. And I have Someone greater than me. None of the things that are too hard for me are too hard for God. He loves me with perfect love, cares for me with perfect compassion, stands by me with perfect faithfulness, guides me with perfect wisdom, handles my life with perfect power, and eternally exists so that His great care never ends.

May you rejoice today in the Great God that humbles Himself to look on us.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA