All May Change......

For the past few weeks at the Home League in Ripley we have been looking at the NAMES OF GOD and what they mean, and also the seven I AM statements of Jesus and what they mean. As there are many websites that you can go on I won't go into great detail, safe to say that God is everything we need, Jesus is our all in all. 

This month we also went to the Home League rally in Skegness, and we looked back to the past, spoke of the present and talked of the future. There are changes being made to the structure of the Salvation Army, there will be quite a few corps who will no longer be in our division. Hopefully all the changes will be of benefit to the Salvation Army and the communities they represent.

Major Deborah Bungay spoke on looking to the future, she outlined the changes that everyone experiences in their lives, births, deaths, illnesses, jobs, marriage and all kinds of things that have an impact on the way we live. There are changes also that are in the community were we live, the structure of our town or village over the years changes when there are new buildings, shops, houses etc. People change the structure of the work place to make it more efficient and so the list goes on, whether community, church, or individually we are all caught up in change.

But if we are the children of God there is something that never changes, and that is God, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, is the same yesterday, today, and forever and so He is totally reliable, we can totally depend on Him. His word does not change either. So midst all the changing seasons of our lives, the good times and the bad we are assured that God will not change. He is our Salvation, our Defender, our Fortress, our High Tower, our Shield, He is the great I AM, who was and is and will be forevermore. Jesus is the Truth, He is the Way, He is the Light, He is Life and in Him we have life more abundant. There are so many things in this life that are uncertain, unreliable, people let us down, our circumstances may change because of health, or moving house, or moving jobs etc, but despite all the change of circumstances we can always rely on the One who never changes.

Yesterday, Today, Forever

Oh, how sweet the glorious message simple faith may claim:
Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same;
Still He loves to save the sinful, heal the sick and lame,
Cheer the mourner, still the tempest—glory to His name!

Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same,
All may change, but Jesus never—glory to His name!
Glory to His name! Glory to His name!
All may change, but Jesus never—glory to His name!

He who was the friend of sinners seeks the lost one now:
Sinner, come, and at His footstool penitently bow;
He who said, “I’ll not condemn thee, go and sin no more,”
Speaks to thee that word of pardon as in days of yore.

Oft on earth He healed the suff’rer by His mighty hand:
Still our sicknesses and sorrows go at His command;
He who gave His healing virtue to a woman’s touch
To the faith that claims His fullness still will give as much.

As He walked once to Emmaus, with them to abide,
So through all life’s way He walketh ever near our side;
Soon again we shall behold Him—hasten, Lord, the day—
But ’twill still be this same Jesus as He went away.