The God Who Never Changes

WEBVTT

00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:03.624
You're listening to my Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1219.

00:00:03.791 --> 00:00:07.099
Today's Devote is called the God who Never Changes.

00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:26.108
Hey there. We're the Alessi's a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven.

00:00:26.263 --> 00:02:21.310
This is the My Morning Devotional podcast. Good morning everybody and happy Thursday. We're almost at Friday, but not yet. So maybe we're celebrating too early, but it's still going to be a great, great weekend and we're going to get there early, I guess. But this week has been amazing. My name is Rasha Alessi and I've been with my husband Chris. And usually you hear from me alone. But I wanted to bring him in this week because he had some great things to share and I just wanted him to share it with you guys. And we really hope that you are enjoying the podcast. Please let us know, text us back, comment whatever it is through Instagram or DMs or whatever you're used to sending us your messages or even that buy me a latte. Which by the way, a lot of people have bought us lattes, they've bought us coffees and these. This community has. Thank you for that and thank you because is really helping us make this podcast happen. And I've loved to hear some of the messages. That is so cool that they've been sharing with us. So thank you, thank you so much. And just let us know what you thought about this week. I know it's not over, but we love to hear what your feedback and how you like some of these episodes. So Chris, take it away. Well, we're continuing to talk about, you know, effective faith and all of that. Yes. And I think for the last two days it'd just be cool to kind of talk about certain thought processes that are kind of famous or out. They're kind of out there, but they really just don't work. Like they're ineffective. Like if you just tried to stand on them, they would build your house on them. They would be sand, they wouldn't be, you know, level ground. And so one of those is this idea that God somehow changed from the Old Testament to the new. And some people, especially newer in their faith, would look at the Old Testament God and somehow try to justify some of the more difficult aspects of the Old Testament by saying things like, oh, you know, well, he's different now. Well, that's why he sent Christ. He doesn't operate that way anymore.

00:02:21.810 --> 00:02:50.298
Like, there was some big shift in between the Old and New Testament. But ultimately that actually doesn't work because the last book of the Old Testament is Malachi. There's four chapters in Malachi, and in Malachi three, so literally almost the end. Malachi three six says, for I, the Lord, do not change. But the most beautiful part about this verse is the next part. O children of Jacob. Or he says, therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.

00:02:50.473 --> 00:03:08.039
And so what he's actually telling them is, guys, your forefathers, the people we read about in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, they were terrible. And they did not follow me. And, yeah, they got punished for it. But every time they returned to me, I received them every time.

00:03:08.580 --> 00:03:15.723
So guess what? Right now, I don't change. That's why you haven't been consumed, Israel. Because I don't change.

00:03:15.812 --> 00:03:22.919
Because I'm the same. So I'm not any more difficult to please than I was in the past.

00:03:23.300 --> 00:03:27.099
I'm not harder to find than I was in the past.

00:03:27.219 --> 00:03:41.830
God is actually reassuring them in the Old Testament that he's gracious. So when people think that, oh, God is more gracious in the New Testament, that's not true at all. Go read the Book of Psalms. Go read Lamentations

00:03:41.909 --> 00:03:49.222
22. You're going to find that they believed God was so gracious in the Old Testament.

00:03:49.366 --> 00:04:37.290
And the reality is, is that the difference between the old and the New is not that God thought any differently. It's that man thought differently. When they looked at certain things back then, they saw God in everything. We separate right now God from the natural. So there is differences, but not in the way God operates. And the reason that that's reassuring to us is when I look at the Old Testament and I see a God and I feel like there are things that are hard to process. Here's the reality of it. I see an unbelievably powerful God who yet still wants me, still chooses me, still loves me, still makes grace an option for me. And if I try to make it seem like some of those hard, difficult things of the Old Testament don't happen anymore, what am I supposed to do about tragedies?

00:04:37.949 --> 00:05:10.459
What am I supposed to do about the things that actually hurt me? No, it doesn't work. It doesn't work to think that God's just somehow changed because he hasn't. Jesus and I put this in a book. I'm working on. Jesus is not God's PR guy. He did not come in to rebrand God. Yeah. If anything, Jesus is proof that God never changed. And I would just really question, because I know some people might struggle with what I'm saying. But I would like to present this to you. Abraham met with God face to face. Moses met with God face to face.

00:05:10.500 --> 00:05:14.000
Elijah was taken up in a whirlwind, technically never died.

00:05:14.339 --> 00:05:36.120
When Jesus went up on the Mount of Transfiguration, he would have seen Moses and Elijah. They were all talking. So those men saw Jesus face to face. If they were to be alive today, would they need to be tested on who God is because God's changed? Would they need to get updates on who God is because God's different now?

00:05:36.500 --> 00:06:06.040
No. How dare I ever think I know God more than Moses or Elijah? The reality is that God has not changed. Which means when I read all of Scripture, I get a good picture of who God is. And I can know. I can know because the next couple verses say, all I will say is, return to me, and I will return to you. We see a God that's consistent. So if he did it for Moses, and if he did it for Elijah, he'll do it for you.

00:06:06.079 --> 00:06:09.672
If he did it for you and me, Rachelle, he'll do it for every listener.

00:06:09.735 --> 00:06:13.016
That's why we can be encouraged by the fact that God's never changed.

00:06:13.208 --> 00:06:43.963
I love that. The God who never changes. Thank you for giving us a little bit of your theology background, helping us. Try to do it quick in, like, six minutes. Yes. Because this is part of what makes our faith effective. Yeah. That we know that God is the most consistent, lovable God and that he's never going to change. In the same miracles that he performed in the Old Testament are miracles that he can still perform for us in our personal life today. So let's pray. Amen.

00:06:44.012 --> 00:07:20.165
Father, I just thank you so much that you are not a God that changes, Lord, I've always considered it that when the prodigal son left his father, how terrible it would have been if that father moved. Because then the son, when he turned, would never know where to find his father. Lord, in the same way, you've not changed, not once. So we always know where to find you when we need to return. We always know that when we knock, you will open the door. When we seek, Lord, we know we will find you. When we ask, Lord, we know you'll answer.

00:07:20.278 --> 00:07:48.990
You've never changed and you won't start now. We thank you that we can trust your character. In Jesus name, Amen. So there you have it. Your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.