Wednesday, August 3, 2011

"Yesterday, Today and Forever"


  Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ encompasses the past, the present and the future.


    We look back on a lifetime of God's faithfulness, from conception to this present moment, and we give thanks for gracious and merciful lovingkindess of both undeserved blessing and judgment withheld.  "I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Thy works; I muse on the work of Thy hands" (Psalm 143:5).  Born again believers in the Lord Jesus know that the great fact of our existence has been God, whether in blessing, difficulty, or the myriad of mundane moments that have comprised most of our lives.  In such wonderful light, we bow our hearts and heads in gratitude.


     We also look to the future with great anticipation.  It matters not where we may be in our earthly experience, or what may be our condition, situation or circumstance.  Our Heavenly Father awaits us at every venue, causing us to affirm with the Psalmist, "My expectation is from Him" (Psalm 62:5).  Indeed, the great fact of the past will be the great fact of the future.  Wherever we are going as we venture into unknown days ahead, the living God will be the destination to which we arrive.  And, to the degree we expect Him will be the degree to which we will experience the preparations that await.  Again, we bow our hearts and heads in gratitude.


    Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we look into the present and see the Presence.  "I am with you always" promised the Lord Jesus, and He is (Matthew 28:20).  Our lives are saturated within and without by the Divine Ocean, as it were, wherein we "live and move and have our being" (Acts 28:17).  We don't see very clearly just yet, especially in comparison to how much God fills our hearts and lives.  He is there nevertheless, and the Lord Jesus is the great fact of this moment, just as He was and will forever be in both time and eternity.  Yes, if we could hear the voice of our Savior, His song would continually grace our ears with the assurance, "I am here."  He is here, wherever we may be.  The Presence fills our present, and most assuredly, we bow our hearts and heads in gratitude.


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

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