DAILY WORD 9/8/20

8. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

9. So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.

Hebrews 13:8–9 NLT

Today’s passage is literally about meat! It also contains some more “Strong Meat of the Word” to chew on so this one is a two-for. Before we get to the meat though, let’s tackle the Meat first. There is a very important, essential, and impactful thought embedded into the First Verse of this passage that is one of the Foundational tenets of our Faith.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” This seems pretty straight forward and obvious but if we take a closer look at what the Reality of this really entails, we begin to see that there is more to this statement than meets the eye. On the surface, this is telling us that God Never Changes. Okay, we got that but there is more to it if we dig a little bit deeper.

This means that the Same Jesus that Charged His Disciples with Healing the sick, Raising the dead, and Laying Hands on sinners and having them instantly Receive His Spirit, is the Same Jesus that is Alive in us through that Very Same Spirit today. That in turn, means that the Same Power that He Gave to them to do those Miraculous Acts now Dwells in us if we Have His Spirit.

If that is the case, then we have the same Ability to do through His Spirit that they did. Jesus hasn’t Changed, nor has His Power, so we have the Ability to Perform Miracles in His Name just like His Disciples did. So, why are we not doing it? Why are Miracles seemingly a thing of the past? We’ll get back to that in a moment.

The second point I’d like to make concerning the First Verse of this passage is that if Jesus Never Changes then neither do His Standards. I spoke recently about how many pastors and Christian leaders are leaving out portions of God’s Word to pacify their parishioners. This is often done to keep from offending people’s delicate sensibilities. However, if Jesus Never Changes then that means that God’s Word, His Law, and His Expectations Never Change either.

The Christian Leaders that omit portions of God’s Word to appease the sinful acts of their congregation are not only doing them a great disservice, they are putting themselves and their flock in grave danger. God is not going to just overlook their sin because they were never taught that it was sin. He doesn’t Change, so neither do His Principles. When Judgment comes it will come whether or not you believe what He’s Said or not. If you decide parts of His Word are just not for you and decide to pick and choose what you what to believe, what does that mean for your Verdict?

We must take it all or accept none of it. This is not me being harsh. I didn’t make the Rules. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Period. Take that how you will but to me, that means He is Uncompromising. That includes His Ethics. Ignore or overlook those you don’t like or agree with at your peril. His Judgment of sin will not Change either.

Now, back to the first point about Miracles. Why, if we have the Same Power that the Disciples had, are we not Performing Miracles like they did? The simple and unfortunately obvious answer is Faith. They saw Jesus’s Power first hand and KNEW it was Possible to Do what He Did. Today we have to exercise a vast amount of Faith to do what we’ve never seen done. That is not a real excuse. The Power is the same but we are experiencing a disconnect between His Power and our Belief.

That being the case, there are potentially thousands of individuals that are sick and will die or are unsaved and will never be Saved because of our lack of Faith. This is the harsh reality of today’s Christians. We have access to a Power that can literally Change Lives and because of weak Faith, thousands perish. We (including myself) need to find a way to tap back into the True Power of Jesus Christ and live out the Commission He Gave His Disciples.

We are now those Disciples and we have a responsibility to do His Work on this planet before He Returns. There is no one else that can do it if we will not. What are you going to do to carry on the Commission of Jesus?

The only way we are going to be able to Secure the Access we need is to stay focused on the True Power of God and “not be attracted by strange, new ideas”. Verse 9 tells us that this challenge is a real obstacle in the lives of Christians today as well as when the author originally wrote it. The specifics may have changed but the dilemma is the same. Then it was people being offended and caught up over meat and what was acceptable to eat, today it is sex, morality, and doctrine.

If the enemy can distract us with anything that takes our eyes off the Unchanging Truth of the Word then he will have succeeded. All he has to do is get us to accept that what God has Said isn’t really True like he did with Eve, and we are on the way to destruction. It is imperative not only to KNOW the Truth but to be so Rooted and Grounded in it that no one, regardless of how persuasive they may be, can drive us off of our Sure Foundation in God’s Unalterable Word. Once that is the case, which requires Study and Stability on our parts, just like Jesus, we will never be moved!

We have a Great Commission to Answer, are you up to the Call, or will your Faith fail when the chips are down? God’s Power is ALWAYS here for us to lean on. All we have to do is Ask and Believe and he has Promised to Give us His Unchanging Power. In that Power, we have all we will ever need to answer the Call. Do you have what it takes?

Have a Terrific Tuesday and Stay Safe out there!

#dailyword