10312026 Wide Steps

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of the One who prepares our path.

“Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip” (Psalm 18:36).        

Perhaps you have seen a mountain climber on a rock wall. You have seen his hands clasp knobs of rock. You have seen his toes cling to tiny bumps or support themselves on the narrowest of ledges. Sometimes it seemed there was nothing at all to support his hands or feet; he appeared to be magically glued to a sheer wall. You may have marveled at his skill, but thought to yourself, “If I were climbing, I would need the footholds to be as wide as possible.”

That certainly would make the climb easier and safer. When groups of mountain climbers scale a sheer rock wall or traverse a smooth icy expanse, they have to make the path as safe as they can. With their axes they carve out steps for themselves and for those who follow. A careful climber will make those carved-out steps as wide and as smooth as possible.

This is the picture that God gives in this verse. He makes the steps wide so that you can walk without falling. He enlarges your steps so they are safe and sure. The path you have to travel is not always completely smooth, but God intervenes to make it as sure and as safe as possible. He sees the steps that are too narrow and that would present a danger for you, and He enlarges them. He makes them wider and safer, so that you can tread the dangerous terrain without slipping.

God is very good at this preparation and does it well enough to give success. The psalmist claims that God’s efforts were effective. The psalmist was able to walk without slipping. God can prepare your steps just as effectively.

May God give you wide steps and steady feet as you follow Him this week.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA

10242026 Gentle Shepherd

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of our gentle Shepherd.

“He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young” (Isaiah 40:11).

God illustrates His care for those who are most needy by speaking of Himself as a shepherd. Sheep are noted for their helplessness. In order to survive, they need a shepherd to look after them. Within the scenario of a shepherd with his sheep, God chooses the most vulnerable of the flock to illustrate His point. He speaks of the young lambs and of the recent mothers who are caring for their newborns.

God tells of His care for the delicate lambs and for the over-worked mothers with fragile bundles to care for. Far from leaving these vulnerable ones out, God makes a point to express His care for them. The picture created is a very tender one. God doesn’t simply fulfill His obligation to these needy lambs and ewes. He takes the time and effort to do so appropriately. He takes special care to treat them tenderly. He tends all of His flock, leading it to pasture so it can find the food it needs, but with the fragile ones, He is especially attentive.

God sees the tiny lambs who are tottering on their skinny legs and who don’t have the energy to walk for long distances. He gathers those lambs into His arms and carries them close to His heart. He doesn’t expect from them what they cannot do. Neither does He handle them roughly, slinging them over His shoulder. Instead He cherishes them and carries them in the most tender and safest way possible. He does not hurry the nursing ewes along or push them beyond their limits. He leads them gently because He knows their limitations. He loves them, and His kindness is expressed every time He leads them. Our Father, the Great Shepherd, knows how to deal gently with those He loves.

May God hold you tenderly and lead you patiently as you rest in His care.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA 

10172026 A Loving God

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of our wonderful, loving God.

Some of you are more aware than I am about the various versions of “god” that exist and of what those false gods demand of their followers. Rather than try to accurately catalogue the requirements of specific religions, let me give a list of actions that are supposed to be helpful in obtaining, keeping, or solidifying one’s salvation within various religions.

Baptism. Praying. Fasting. Taking communion. Doing confession before you die. Giving money. Giving up personal belongings. Offering sacrifices. Entering seclusion. Self-flagellation. Doing good works. Doing a two-year service journey. Doing humanitarian work. Going on a pilgrimage. Killing an infidel. Martyrdom.

And these works might have to be done in the right way, at the right time, in the right place, or with the right frequency. Missing them even once at the wrong time can mean disaster. Furthermore, doing the wrong thing can undo what has already been achieved. And certain sins – well, if you do them, there is no hope for you whatsoever.

But then there is the one true God. What does He say?

“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Romans 3:28).

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (II Timothy 1:9).

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5).

Those other religions require man to do all kinds of things – some of them pretty major. They leave him constantly striving to do more, fearing that he hasn’t done enough. He has to follow a fearful god who always requires him to do more than he can do and to be what he cannot be.

 

How much better it is to follow a God who loves me and who wants to make it as easy as possible for me to be right with Him. That doesn’t mean I choose Christianity because it is easy. It does mean that the true God is vastly different from every false god, because His very means of saving me is an immeasurable display of the depths of His love. He expresses love, invitation, and acceptance, rather than fear, obstacles, and rejection.

May you rejoice in the God of your salvation, and may He bless your labor as you help others to see this same loving God.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA

10102026 Divine Guidance

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of our great Guide. He has always faithfully led His people and will continue to do so.

“I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye” (Psalm 32:8).

God guided Abraham. From his home in Haran to his sojourn in Canaan. Through Abraham’s side trip to Egypt. Through dividing the land with Lot. Through military rescues. Through false steps. Through years of waiting. To the unspeakable Mount Moriah. God was always there.

God guided Joseph. To find his brothers in Dothan. On the savage trip to Egypt. In Potiphar’s house. In the prison. As a high-ranking official. Through reconciliation with his family. Even in transporting his bones back to Canaan. God was always there.

God guided David. From the shepherd’s hill to the battle with Goliath. Through faithful service to an unstable king. Through night escapes to cave escapes to foreign power escapes to angry men escapes to military escapes to civil war escapes. God was always there.

God guided Daniel. From Israel to Babylon. Through the foreign university and the unreasonable demands of the king. Through successive rulers. Through oppressive government mandates and through the lion’s den. In desperate searches to understand God’s plans. God was always there.

God guided Paul. From observing the death of Stephen to seeing the light on the road to Damascus. Through training in the wilderness and confrontations in the early church. Through threat of death from Jews and Gentiles and Romans. Through three missionary journeys – city by city and region by region. Through shipwrecks and imprisonments and house arrest in a foreign place. God was always there.

We may not be able to personally relate to every one of those circumstances, but certainly we find repeated parallels in our own lives to the situations of the men listed above. Where do you find your own story? In moving to a foreign land or from place to place? In opposition and danger? In needing wisdom? In being rescued from your own mistakes? In carrying out your mission from God? In routine responsibilities or in immense tasks beyond your comprehension?

Has not God always been there? Time after time, He has guided, instructed, and taught. His eye has been on you. Your path has been made plain and your feeble efforts have been blessed.

And so our faithful God will continue to do. Each new day. Each new year. Each new ministry. Each new outreach. Praise God for His faithful and careful guidance.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA

10042026 Spiritual Solutions to Spiritual Problems

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of the Supreme God. He rules over not just a town or state or country, but over the entire universe. (And, who knows? There could be expanses that we don’t even know about.) His rule is not just over the physical world, but also over the unseen spiritual world.

We humans are in an unusual in-between position. On the one hand, we are human. We are flesh and bone. We walk on dirt and grass and concrete, and we move between trees and buildings. We face the challenges of this physical world: rain, mosquitoes, stairs, deserts. We interact with other humans.

On the other hand, not every challenge that we face is of this physical world. There are unseen powers and forces. We can’t see them, but we still are influenced by them and must interact with them. We walk on this physical earth, with all its components, but we are in a battle against things that are beyond this physical earth. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh” (2 Corinthians 10:3). Ephesians 6 refers to “the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

How can we successfully battle against powers that are on a different level than where we live? That are beyond the human boundaries within which we exist? Thankfully, through the provision of our Supreme God. Our own weapons and efforts and understanding are not sufficient for the spiritual battle, but God gives us resources. “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)” (2 Corinthians 10:4). Through the spiritual weapons provided to us by God, we can have victory in ways that we cannot imagine.

The battles on the spiritual level are diverse. Some are on a global scale beyond what we can comprehend. In a practical way, those battles can involve our ministries, the people we have contacts with or outreach toward, and even our own selves. On whichever level we face the battle, our goal is for the truth to prevail – to guide, to conquer, to illuminate, to control. We reject and reveal the error, and instead we exalt Christ and the Bible, allowing God to put things back into their proper order. “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

May God give you wisdom, grace, strength, and provision to meet the physical demands of this physical world. May He also give you the wisdom, power, and truth to face the assaults of the spiritual world.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA