God Speaks Hope

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 Unprecedented!  New normal!  Are you as sick as I of hearing these phrases? Maybe "different" or "non-traditional" are better phrases. As we enter the 2020 holiday season, it seems that once again it will be a different type of celebration this year. It seems that 2020 will never end and doesn't leave us much room for Hope. Traditionally during Advent, churches will theme their services around four specific traits/characteristics of God as we approach the celebration of the coming of baby Jesus. This past Sunday, our church focused on Hope. It is appropriate that the first week of Advent the focus is on Hope since this year seems to be a bit unhopeful. Many of us have spent a different year of birthday celebrations and even Thanksgiving get togethers. Looking towards Christmas celebrations, it seems likely that it will not be a traditional year for that either. The One steadfast and never-changing Hope that we have in all of these unusual times is our Heavenly Father. Even though everything around us may be different or change, God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. 

Malachi 3:6--"Because I am the Eternal One, I never change; as a result, you children of Jacob have not been destroyed though your blessing may have been delayed."

Because God does not change, we have the hope that we will not be destroyed and that a blessing is yet to come. God does not want His children to suffer and be without Hope. He promises that we have a blessing in the future. Right now we can't see the blessing(s) in this "new normal", but one day we will see and understand.

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Jeremiah 29:11--"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."

Here is Hope--God thinks about us! That is an awesome way to have Hope. The Creator of the world thinks about us.  What's more, He not only thinks about us, but sings over us as well.

Zephaniah 3:17--"The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing."

This is one of my favorite verses and now combined with the previous, it gives me hope to know that God thinks about me and rejoices over me with singing. 

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Let us not lose hope in this crazy year! Maybe it's a year to start new traditions, to focus on our blessings without as much busyness, and to focus on the Hope that God gives us.

Heaven--"And know that in heaven, you have a great reward."  Matt. 5:12

Overcome--"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Power--"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak."  Isaiah 40:29

Eternal life--"Those who believe in the Son will bask in eternal life, but those who disobey the Son will never experience life."  John 3:36

God Speaks Through Change

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CHANGE. It is not a kind word. Most of us do not think too highly of change. Change can come as the result of illness, job loss, death, even marriage, new baby, or new job or job responsibilities. Even though some of these are "happy" things, they still result in a change of some sort. The dictionary definition is "make or become different". Most of us get so used to our day in and day out routine that any "change" becomes an issue. 

        Proverbs 7:23--"Like a bird flying straight into a net.

    He had no clue his life was at stake; everything was about to change."

Take, for instance, our recent and on-going COVID-19 outbreak. Most of us were pushed into a sudden and abrupt change. A change in our day-to-day life; a change in our jobs; a change in our finances. For many of us what had been our typical daily routine was no more. This was quite a difficult change as we all had to not only learn a new daily routine, but many of us had to learn how to make due with less food for our families and less money for our bills. Many parents have had to learn how to teach their children and children have had to learn from their parents or grandparents. Teachers had to change how they were teaching and students had to change their mindset of learning. As we all begin to settle into our "new" routine, change will come again. 

Change as the result of a family death, or marriage break-up are difficult as well. These changes last a little longer than our COVID-19 event. During these changes, there really is no going back to what was normal. For these changes, a new routine and a new way of thinking is required and is often difficult to establish.

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A new marriage or a new baby can result in good change and yet it is still change. There is still a new routine to establish and new ways of thinking. Sometimes this new change can bring a few hardships with it...babies that don't sleep at night, exhausted parents, couples whose personalities clash. These hardships will at some point....change! 

Isaiah 14:26--"Because I, God of earth and heaven,

        have devised a plan for the whole earth;

    I have reached out and am ready to effect change among the nations."

If there is one thing that is constant in this world, it is change! In fact, God calls upon each of us to change. We are born into a messed up world with a mindset of doing wrong things. That is just human nature. We are born sinful (with the propensity to do bad things). This doesn't necessarily mean killing people or stealing, but none of us can say we have never done something wrong since birth . That is sin...doing something wrong! The way that God provides for our change is through His Son, Jesus. If we believe that He took our eternal punishment and ask Him to be in charge of our lives, we will be changed.

Mark 1:15--"It’s time! The kingdom of God is near! Seek forgiveness, change your actions, and believe this good news!"

Nehemiah 1:9--"but if you have a change of heart and return to Me and walk according to My commands, then no matter how far you have gone, even to the places beyond the horizon, I will gather you and bring you to the place of My choosing, where My very name dwells.”

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God asks us to change, but knows that we are born with that tendency to do bad things and that we can't alter the bad things that happen to us. He knows that we will need help. Who better to help us than God, Who created us and Who knows all about us? The other thing about God and change is that He doesn't. God Does Not Change. He has been the same God with the same character since the beginning of time. His expectations do not change; His thoughts do not change; His plans for us have never changed; and His love does not change! 

Hebrews 13:8--"Jesus the Anointed One is always the same: yesterday, today, and forever."

Malachi 3:6a--"Because I am the Eternal One, I never change..."

Change is a part of life. Sometimes good; sometimes bad. No matter the amount and type of change in our lives, isn't it wonderful to know that God is constant?

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