And the more things change

There are times we don't appreciate how much change has taken place until someone else comments, or the spinning stops and we can again gain some sense of balance. I think these are common experiences, but not always seen as such. Too often it is easy to say, No one knows what I am going through or have gone through or am about to enter into. Wrong! God not only knows, He is with His children.

And the more things change

And the more things change,
Or have the appearance of changing,
The more grateful I am for the Unchanging One.
As I press "Change" of the "Tools" options,
As we are impressed with coming changes of neighbors,
As we are informed of changes in the lives of friends,
The more grateful I am that the Sovereign God is immutable,
That He is the same yesterday, today, forever,
That He is the same as when He revealed Himself to Adam, and to Noah, and to Moses.
That He is the same as when He revealed Himself to prophet after prohet, priest after priest, generation after generation.
The more temporal changes, the more grateful I am that the Eternal One never will.

What a rock our God is!
He is unlike the rocks we know which are subject to geographical events, to weather events, to wearing down and, finally, away, sand washed grain by grain into the ocean or into the rivers.

Nothing changes Him--no event alters Him, for all events are under His good control.

Nothing challenges Him--no man how powerful he may appear to be can bring down the Sovereign of all.

Nothing--for He is all in all, and in Him, rather, we live and move and have our being.

Comfort!
Rest!
Eternally--

A Special Thanksgiving Giving of Thanks

God receives thanks throughout the Bible. In some instances, an individual is the thanksgiver, in other instances, thanks is given corporately. There were even men who were assigned to be givers of thanks.

This day, I join with others in being a giver of thanks.

He is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults in him.

You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. [Ps. 118:28; ESV]

I am thankful that God is
faithful
all powerful
unchanged and unchanging
compassionate
holy
righteous
sustainer
unflappable [not a theological term]
merciful
sovereign
determined
focused
forgiving
unsurprised [also not a theological term, admitted]
creator
praiseworthy
self revealing
glorious
victorious
mysterious
savior
judge
Father
Son
Spirit
One
eternal

Comfort food:

Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ [1 Cor. 15:57; ESV]

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. [1 Thess. 5:18]

It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the woks of your hands I sing for joy. [Ps. 92:1-4; ESV]

Thanksgiving?

One year was doubly difficult for me. In the spring, my husband learned that he was going to lose his job after 16 years because of reorganization. In the fall, my father passed away unexpectedly. 50 weeks were counted off between my husband's last day with that employer and first day with the present one. As hard as that year was, God saw to it that our needs were met and, more than that, that we grew in our relationships with Him and with each other.

A difficult time

A difficult time can be a growing time if,
If we determine to choose how we respond according to scripture,
To respond according to the book of instructions for
Life, living it as
The giver of life,
Provider of the river of life,
Has instructed, to be people as the saying once went,
People of the Book,
And to be so purposefully,
Worshipfully,
Humbly,
Determindly,
Daily,
No, momentarily,
Moment by moment,
Heartbeat by heartbeat,
Breath by breath
Until
Breath and heartbeat reach glory,
Worshiping eternally right,
Eternally timelessly holy.

Comfort food:
Jeremiah 32:17
"Ah, Lord God! It is you who has made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you." [ESV.]

A Blameless Walk [post 2] inspired by Psalm 119:11

A Christian's goal is a life-long goal;
A blameless walk is a marathon, not a sprint;
A Christ-like life is not lived in a day,
And temptations are all along the way,
Springing from without and within,
Enticing to one or another sin;
Obedience means choosing to obey,
One choice after another,
Prayerfully day after day,
Half-day after half-day,
Hour after hour,
Thought after thought,
Breath after breath,
Prayer and repentance after prayer and repentance,
Clinging and confessing, and rejoicing.

A blameless walk is the Enoch walk, the Christ walk,
The goal for the glory--the Christian's goal, the Lord's glory.

NOTE: Enoch is one of the most interesting characters in the book of GENESIS. In chapter 5, we meet him: When Jared had lived 162 years he fathered Enoch. Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died. When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. [ESV; 5:18-24]

A Blameless Walk [inspired by Psalm 119:11]

Often the lessons for the small group Bible study I participate in challenge us to go beyond the obvious as we study different passages. Several of these will appear as slices of bread, some times as small as croutons. The next postings will look at one verse of one Psalm.

A Blameless Walk

A Christian's goal is a blameless walk,
A Christ-like walk: humility and service,
Cross-bearing purposefully,
Daily, half-daily, hourly, momentarily,
God-ward focus,
Christ-like pattern,
Walking in the eternal footsteps
Guided by the Holy Spirit,
A Christian's goal is a blameless walk.