Nashville, Tennessee, United States - The Upper Room Daily Devotional "Always the Same" for Thursday, 28 August 2014 - Read Hebrews 6:12-20

Nashville, Tennessee, United States - The Upper Room Daily Devotional "Always the Same" for Thursday, 28 August 2014 - Read Hebrews 6:9-12 I’m sure that won’t happen to you, friends. I have better things in mind for you—salvation things! God doesn’t miss anything. He knows perfectly well all the love you’ve shown him by helping needy Christians, and that you keep at it. And now I want each of you to extend that same intensity toward a full-bodied hope, and keep at it till the finish. Don’t drag your feet. Be like those who stay the course with committed faith and then get everything promised to them.
God Gave His Word
13-18 When God made his promise to Abraham, he backed it to the hilt, putting his own reputation on the line. He said, “I promise that I’ll bless you with everything I have—bless and bless and bless!” Abraham stuck it out and got everything that had been promised to him. When people make promises, they guarantee them by appeal to some authority above them so that if there is any question that they’ll make good on the promise, the authority will back them up. When God wanted to guarantee his promises, he gave his word, a rock-solid guarantee—God can’t break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable.
18-20 We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It’s an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us, in the order of Melchizedek.
The Father of the heavenly lights . . . does not change like shifting shadows.(James 1:17 (NIV))
My wife, Holly, had decided to surprise our daughter Jessie at her school for kindergarten lunch. After they finished eating, Holly suggested a game of Telephone (also called Gossip), where the first person whispers a phrase or sentence into the next person’s ear. The second person passes on what they thought they heard, until all participants have received the message. Then, the last person says aloud what was said to them. Usually, the final statement is vastly different from the initial one.
Jessie started one of the rounds by whispering, “God is always the same.” The game went on, around the table, through several little kindergartners, until the final statement was revealed: “God is always the same.” The original statement had not changed at all.
James 1:17 tells us that God is steadfast, unchanging. Numbers 23:19 also speaks of God’s faithfulness: “God is not human, that he should lie . . . [or] change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” We can trust and rely on God. Over a period of several thousand years, God promised the Messiah — and that promise was filled in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. How amazing was this steadfast promise!
The Author: Larry Crockett (Tennessee, USA)
Thought for the Day: God is always dependable and trustworthy.
Prayer: Dear God, in a constantly-changing world, remind us that you are trustworthy and that your promises never change. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Prayer focus: Someone who is doubting God
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