We Find Our Ultimate Home in Him​​

"For all the promises of God in Him are yes, and in Him amen, to the glory of God through us."  2 Corinthians 1:20

​House hunting is a tough thing, especially when trying to find a house from a distance. On our last move, my husband and I were looking for a house that met each item on our wish list:

• land for the children to roam and explore
• enough bedrooms to accommodate six children (with some sharing)
• an area to set up a permanent home school and
• a laundry ROOM

​Our previous homes both had laundry pass-throughs that caused major hazards for people coming into the house from our garage entry.   

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​Our ever-patient real estate agent took me to (what seemed like) hundreds of houses and none were right. Some would work for our temporary needs, but not for our home.

​After two failed cross-country house hunting trips, with my husband starting his new job in one state with the rest of our family in another, my hopes were failing and my anxiety was at an all-time high. In the middle of looking for a place to live, we were also trying to complete an adoption. In order to have all of the paperwork signed off, we were required to have a permanent dwelling. On my last trip, we found a house that we thought might work and were willing to settle. We made an offer and I flew back to Florida. The offer was accepted, but the house failed inspections. I was devastated. As my children and I waited in Florida for God to perform a miracle, my husband said he wanted to go to some open houses with the agent, particularly to check on a brand new listing he found. He gave me the information and I pulled up the listing online.  ​​

​As I studied the outside of the house, I could not see how this could possibly be the one. It just didn't seem like anything I'd ever pictured. If I had only seen the house online, without my husband telling me about it, I would have clicked right past it. 

Every room in the house was a different bright color, with multiple colors of carpet throughout. I was not convinced. Later in the day, he called to tell me he was inside the house. He wanted to go room by room, describing each as I looked at them online. During the virtual tour, he kept saying, "I think this is the one. It has everything we've been looking for. I really think you'll like it." I still couldn't understand. I definitely needed to see it for myself. And, see it I did, a week later, after our offer had been made and accepted, I pulled up to the house on the day of the inspection. And I discovered that everything my husband told me was true. He was right. It has everything we were looking for and after gallons and gallons of paint and some new flooring, the house became our home. After settling in and learning more about our new spot, I can see how God was at work in every detail leading up to our move. There's so much more to the story, but basically, He made me wait until the right time, which was His time and not mine so that I would recognize His provision for my life.  

Sometimes, reading the Bible can feel like a long-distance house hunt, especially reading the whole Bible. We know the Bible is a book about Jesus and is often called "God's love letter," but confidently walking through the Old Testament can feel like an unachievable task. Finding Jesus there may seem too difficult. It's hard to make our home in the first 39 books of the Bible, except for maybe the Psalms or Proverbs. We'd rather run on ahead to the New Testament, where we clearly see Jesus. ​​​

Can you imagine what it was like for the people who lived during Old Testament times? Or the people who lived in the days of Jesus' early ministry? The people looked for a Messiah, but they did not see Him because no one expected Him to come the way He came--so very humble. No one expected Him to look the way He looked--so very ordinary. And certainly, no one expected Him to die the way He died--so very full of shame. 

​No one expected these things, that is no one except those who had listened to God's Word, who had seen Jesus in the symbols and the pictures, the foreshadowing and the allusions—the Word, given through prophets and the actions of the priests, directed by God to move on the people's behalf. The ones who listened to the Word of the Old Testament were the ones who recognized Jesus, the One Who God sent at the right time, to give them a future and a hope, a home in Him. They saw Jesus, the Messiah, the Redeemer, the Promised One. 

2 Corinthians 1:20 says,

"For all of the promises of God in Him are yes, and in Him amen, to the glory of God through us." ​

All the promises of God...in Jesus...Yes. 

I want to encourage you to explore the Old Testament this year. Look for Jesus in the books where perhaps you’ve never thought to find Him. I promise He’ll be there and He will be beautiful.

• ​He is in every promise the Father makes to His children
• He is the Sufficient One who is represented in the repeated offerings of lamb after lamb each one insufficient to make eternal atonement for our sin
• He is God's Provision for His people
• He is pictured in the manna from heaven the land in which God’s people settled the ark that kept man and animals alive and so much more​

Making our way through the Old Testament, we catch glimpses of Jesus as God builds toward His coming. While the desperation grows and the desire for the Messiah increases, God readies His people to see His Son. God's timing is perfect. The Redeemer comes right on schedule. God waits so we will recognize that the Promised One is Jesus. And in Jesus, all the promises of God are kept forever. We find our ultimate home in Him. ​​​

I am currently reading through the Bible with a one-year chronological order of book authorship itinerary. You can download your copy of that itinerary here. Just this week, God reminded me that He sees me as Jacob uttered these words to his father-in-law Laban. "God saw my affliction and the labor of my hand...” (Genesis 31:42). God sees you too, your affliction and the labor of your hands, He sees it all just as He saw Jacob. What are you reading?

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The First Breakfast

A Journey with Jesus and Peter through Calling, Brokenness, and Restoration.

“Come and have breakfast.” After three years together, it wasn’t the first invitation Jesus gave to Peter, but in so many ways, it was the most life-changing. The night of The Last Supper brought memories of denial, regret, and brokenness burned in Peter’s memory. But the pastel morning sky rising over the crashing waves, brought new mercies and an invitation to redemption. This would become The First Breakfast.

“Jesus didn’t go around announcing His credentials or making a big ceremony about His name or title. He just enters their lives, preaching the Good News of His Gospel of grace. He walks with them on the road, and He looks in their eyes as He listens to their questions. He heals the sick, gives dignity to the poor and the outcast, and spreads out an invitation to all to follow Him....He spends time with them, and rather than telling them who He is, He just shows them. And spending time in His presence—with Jesus—that is how their hearts recognize who He really is.” --The First Breakfast by Eric and Kristin Hill

Throughout their journey, Scripture shows us that the relationship between Jesus and Peter is also a picture of the Father’s relationship with us. It’s a portrait of the way that time in the presence of Jesus is the most transforming force the world has ever known. We see the way Jesus continues to pursue Peter, even in his brokenness. And our eyes are opened to the way that Jesus is transforming and restoring us too. So, if you ever feel weary, defeated, or broken, come and see the true heart of the Father again. Follow the journey of Jesus and Peter through calling, brokenness, and restoration.

Join Eric and Kristin Hill on the winding journey through Scripture to The First Breakfast, with stunning original photography by Hannah Elizabeth Taylor from beautiful locations across the Holy Land. Transformation and restoration are waiting on the other side of the invitation from Jesus to “come and have breakfast.”

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