Everything is Changing




Introduction

        As you look around you, everything is changing. The person that you are now is not the same as the person you were 5 years ago, 10 years ago, 20 years ago. The life around you changes too; births, deaths, graduations, weddings, retirements, etc.
        As much as you’d like things to stay just as they are, we have to admit that it won’t be the same. Whether we want to accept it or not, things change; some for the better, others for the worse.


The Changes in My Life

        There have been many changes in my personal life; moving to Arizona, getting married, having children, watching them grow before your eyes. But there have also been changes that I wasn’t expecting: Divorce, hatred by a child, moving to a trailer park (my choice, though), and the death of both of my parents.

        Although my parents passed in their 80s, it’s just hard to imagine a life without them. I know that I didn’t visit often; being on the other side of the country, but I took solace in that they were still there living in the same house that I grew up in. Now that is just a memory.

        Within the local congregation I’ve seen new members arrive, others move away, and still others passing away. One of the hardest deaths is that of our local preacher as I was one of his students in a weekly bible study for almost 16 years!


       The most surprising change of my life, to date is the arrival of my first grandson this past Monday (March 25, 2019). I won’t go into the details but I just don’t feel ready to be a grandfather. I certainly don’t look the part, seemingly young, but that might be an advantage to him as I would be around for a while…Lord Willing (Jas. 4:14).

Bible Examples of Life-Changing Events

        There have been many examples in scripture of Life-Changing Events. Sin being introduced into the world (Gen. 3), when the Israelites were made slaves in Egypt (Ex. 1:8-13), when the Israelites were carried off into captivity in Babylon (Jer. 39:1-5), when the church was established on Pentecost (Acts 2).

        Obviously, there are a lot more changes than this, but it gives you the idea that changes in peoples’ lives have existed since the Garden of Eden; some good, some bad, and other completely unexpected.


One Constant among all Changes

        As was stated earlier, changes happen whether we want them to or not; whether we’re ready for them or not. However, amidst all of these changes in life, there remains one thing that doesn’t change; never has, and never will: God and His Word (Heb. 13:8; Rev. 1:4).

        Since the bible was finished and assembled as one book, it has been a constant through the centuries. Translations change but the truth is still within its pages. And with assistance from others, one can learn how to become a Christian (Acts 8:30-38).

        It’s the same “formula” used today as it was in the first century. There is no need to change God’s pattern for salvation. He established it, thereby, there is nothing Man can do or say that can improve upon it.



Conclusion

        Col. 1:23 reads, “if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven…” Keeping your life firmly planted in the truth of the gospel will help you weather any change that comes your way; good or bad.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

09. Number Your Days

Image
  God’s Bucket List for You, part 2   Introduction In Psalms 90:10-12, Moses prayed, The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath. So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom. We’re only give so much time here on Earth and it is up to us to make everyday count. Each day breaks down into just 1440 minutes and when you subtract to amount for school/work and sleep, it’s even less. We should appreciate the amount we have daily.   I’ve Got Plenty of Time How often have we said, or heard someone say, that they have plenty of years ahead of them to do this or that? Most young people believe that religion is for the older people; those headed into their twilight years that are “closer to death” than they were in their youth. Yet, they do...
Read more

06. Realize Your Self-worth

Image
  God’s Bucket List for You, part 5  Introduction to the series, click here Introduction One of the problems I suffer from, as do a lot of people, is a low self-esteem. We often make the mistake of basing our self-esteem on our family, friends, occupation, area we live in, and our home. Although all of that factor into our lives, they don’t have to be the main basis of our self-esteem. As part of His bucket list for us, God wants us to realize our self-worth by examining our lives according to His scriptures. If we are not following His word, as written, then we need to change and build up our self-esteem.   Moses’ lack of Self-worth In our previous article , we looked at Moses and the excuses he made to God as he didn’t want to lead his people out of Egypt. One of his excuses was a lack of eloquent speech. Here’s what he said in Exodus 4:10, Then Moses said to the LORD, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant;...
Read more

IMMORTAL (I’m Mortal)

Image
(from 2013) Introduction “Do No Try This at Home” is a phrase generally seen as a disclaimer on certain television shows that feature dangerous stunts or other things in which professionals have been training to do for many years. Teenagers and young adults will attempt to imitate these very same stunts themselves. Why? Because it’s the thrill of the stunt and an opportunity to gain approval of their peers. To them failure is not an option as well as death. It’s a certain level of immortality that young people feel because, to them, their whole life is ahead of them and death only happens to old people. But as a preacher once said, “The Old must die and the young do die.” Definitions of Immortal The dictionary definition for immortal is ‘Exempt from Death’ or ‘Imperishable’.   In other words, you can never die or you live forever. But this is not true and we all, eventually, will die. In addition, the dictionary also defines immortal on the basis of a noun in...
Read more