Sunday Scripture

 

As mentioned previously, I'm doing special Christmas related Sunday Scripture posts throughout December again this year.  Back in 2020 I had worked through Peace, Be Still: A 31-Day Christmas prayer journal, from Women Living Well.  Last year, I used some of my simple study from this book as Scripture posts for December.  I have decided to do so again this year, using different posts on each of my blogs to keep it interesting for all of my readers.  I will take two from each week's study to use one each on my blogs, and maybe next December use more of them.

Also -- note that this simple study does not use the SOAP method as my studies usually do.  This one includes a verse for the day, a thought for the day,  a reflection question for the day and space to write a prayer for each day.  I tended to look at the verse a little bit in depth, and I tended to answer the reflection question in the prayer, but of course you can use these any way you want to. I hope perhaps some of you will want to study out these verses in more depth for yourselves.

Here goes with the study for Week 3, Day 18!  

Verses for the day:

"Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever."  (Hebrews 13:8)

My study: 

I also chose to look at Hebrews 1:10-12 --

"Thou, Lord, in the beginning has laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of Thy hands.
"They shall perish, but Thou remainest; and they shall all become old, as doth a garment.
"And as a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, and they shall be changed; but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail."

As the hymn writer has said,

"Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same;
All may change, but Jesus, never; glory to His Name!"

Another hymn writer has penned these words:

"Change and decay in all around I see;
O, Thou who changest not, abide with me."

I do see "change and decay" all around.  Our world is a mess, our country is a mess.  Lives have been ruined by the events of the past several years.  There has been uncertainty in so many areas of life.  Yet Jesus does not change and He will never change.  We can trust Him to care for us in every facet of our lives no matter how uncertain things become.

Reflection question:

In what area of your life do you fear change?  How does knowing that God's Word, God's love and God's presence never changes, calm your fears?

I don't like change.  I wouldn't say that I fear change, but I don't like it.  I think the biggest area in which I don't look forward to change is the aging process.  I don't care for the physical changes and challenges, nor the uncertainties.    Knowing that God's Word never changes is a huge comfort, because we can turn to the Bible for encouragement and be reminded of God's character.  This helps us when we feel uncertain.

Knowing that God's love never changes is a wonderful reminder that all He allows in our lives is from a heart of love.  And then knowing that God's presence never changes helps so much with calming any fears or concerns.  He says He will be with us in trouble.  He says He will never leave us.  He says He will be with us even as we pass through the valley of the shadow of death.  What an encouragement!

My prayer:

"Dear God, I'm so very thankful that You never change.  I often prefer things to stay the same (though I am not averse to necessary, beneficial change) and our world in the past few years has been upside down in nearly every way.  It seems as if change going to be made for the better, assuming we all survive until that happens, and that a period of pretty serious upheaval may precede it.  I'm incredibly thankful that You are the anchor of our souls, and I praise You!  In Jesus' unchanging name, Amen."

That's the Sunday Scripture for the day.  Hope it was a blessing to you!