Jesus The Same: Yesterday, Today, & Forever

Jesus The Same: Yesterday, Today, & Forever

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

-Hebrews 13:8 NIV

I’m not one to shy away from sharing with you my testimony and what has gone on in my life. I’ll never be one to act like I don’t have challenges despite how much I write to encourage others. Trust and believe I write it to you all while encouraging myself as well.

You know life gets serious when you have to take all of your money out of your bank account because you’re not ready for those automatic payments that are about to come out and you still have bills to pay. I can’t be the only one. When situations like that pop up I often think to myself, how in the world did my parents have a whole house and 3 kids by themselves at my age? I’m too busy just paying a car off, better yet a whole mortgage & providing for an entire household.

I find that I’m not the only one in my generation who compares themselves to the prior generations. Better yet, I found that my generation is not the only ones who do it either. Then it made me realize, if I look at the prior generations, and the generations before me do the same, and the generations before that, then how in the world did the people in the Bible feel?I’m blessed to not have grown up during 1450 BCE when Moses & his friends were eating quail and manna like it was today’s McDonald’s (Well not necessarily the best comparison. You’ll know what I mean when you look up Exodus 16). I’m blessed to not have grown up in the generation where it was illegal for women to vote and only certain people of color could use public restrooms. Although my grandparents seemed so much further in their success by the time they hit my age, they dealt with different circumstances & challenges I don’t know if I could handle. God will not give us more than we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). He knows, just like I do, I wasn’t trying to bear that.

It’s easy to fall into the slippery slope of comparison. Whether you’d like to admit it or not, we’ve all done it at some point. But I want us to try and create a slope that is just as fast for us to fall into. A faith slope.A slope where we instinctively think, “well if God did that then He can!” and “well since God did that He will!”

If we are going to continue to compare (which we really should get out of the practice of doing, based on Galatians 6:4) then the least we can do is start measuring the positive rather than what the enemy tries to place in our thoughts.

Instead of thinking, if God can do that in John Doe’s life, why isn’t He doing it in mine? Since God answered Jane Doe’s prayers and she’s now walking in victory, where are my answers?

Remind yourself that the God you’re serving, the same God who brought the people out of Egypt and equipped Moses to part the Red Sea, is the same God today as He was back then. The same God who gave Joshua the anointing and worked through him to shout down the walls of an entire city, is the same God (Joshua 6). The same God who helped your grandparents build the life that they built in order to provide for your parents, is the same God. Our God, the Most High has the same possession of power that He did yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He still sits on the throne. He still reigns as the King of all kings. He still knows the count of every single hair on your head. He still causes breath to enter you so that you may live. He has not forgotten you, nor forsaken you. Our God is still working behind the scenes of our life animatedly & purposefully.

Matthew 6:25-34 is one of my favorite passages. I would like you to look it up so instead of giving you the full passage, I will give you what I consider the highlights. 

In Matt. 6:25-26 (NIV), God says, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”  God is trying to remind us that He’s got it all under control. He clearly has a lot of responsibility, yet He’s making it clear that YOU are what is most valuable to Him. Therefore, if He can take care of the rest, He can and will most definitely take care of you. 

Then God goes on to say in Matt. 6:31-34 (NIV), “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” 

In a sense this passage makes me giggle because God says all of this in a way like ‘I’ve already showed you Who I Am, it’s about time you start believing me’. He is so obviously letting us know that He knows what we need and He’s working on it. He hasn’t stopped working on it and He doesn’t plan to. There is no need for us to worry. Not only is there no need for us to worry today, but He says not to borrow tomorrow’s troubles and worry about them either. Take today for what today is and whatever challenge that day may bring, trust in God to bring you through. However, don’t sit and dwell on the bills due later that week or the future health of your loved ones, or the list can go on. Take one day at a time and focus on the present moment and the blessings it brings. The same way God got you through this day, He will do the same as your teammate tomorrow. And remember this most importantly: when you’re on a team with God, you’ve already won!