Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. ESV
For many of us, our day begins reaching for the nightstand, searching for our phone to see what time it is.
We laid it down last night as we wearily climbed into bed, hoping for a good night’s sleep, trying our best to block out all the struggles of the day.
We wonder what today will bring. What are we dragging into today that happened or didn’t get done yesterday? What hovers over us like a dark storm and continually reminds us of its presence?
Our thumb takes its usual roll(role) as we begin scrolling through emails, facebook, instagram and twitter. And this is before we even crawl out of bed and our feet hit the floor.
I know the truth in this scripture. I believe it. I strive to live this promise. Every day.
When I look at the screenshot of my life piece by piece, I see where God was yesterday and every yesterday before yesterday.
The language of fear is fed to us in these days though. We are all going to die in the great pandemic encroaching upon us. Fear of our voice being lost if voting doesn’t work anymore. The fear of the economy crashing hovers. What about the sex trafficking and the fear that subtly follows us as we do our best to protect our children and grandchildren from the evil that is growing darker every day? The violence and depravity escalates. The list grows every day.
We think this is all new but it isn’t. And Jesus has been there throughout history and even a brief study through the Old Testament shows us that there truly is nothing new under the sun. It’s all horrible as we read about the atrocities through history but when the story becomes our story, we flounder.
Remember this.
In all the yesterday’s, Jesus was there.
In all our today’s, Jesus is present and as near as we allow Him to be.
We don’t even know if we will lay our phones down by the bed tonight. We have no assurance of that, but we have every assurance that Jesus walks every step with us when we dedicate our lives to Him.
Through my baptism, forgiveness of my sins and the redemption, grace and hope I receive from Him, I am able to fight the fear of the day. He takes the heavy burden of the fear.
I feel the fear. It’s alive. But I take a deep breath and exhale this scripture as prayer.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. ESV
I feel Jesus taking over and the fear subsides. I know it will come back again, but again, I breath and exhale this verse. Some days a hundred times.
Jesus never changes. He uses all our yesterday’s to teach us about the love He has for us, the truths and promises we never have to doubt. He uses them as building blocks for our today’s and the foundation for our tomorrow’s. Every day we walk with Him, we learn the steadfastness of His presence. We learn to see Him in new ways.
This life will never be easy. There will be times of peace, but the battle for our souls is real. Our enemy is strong, but our God has already won the battle. I can’t look at any battle I have come through without seeing where He was/is in it.
The battles I am in currently, are not eternal, even though some days they feel like they will never end.
Our Jesus is eternal. His love for us is eternal.
Tomorrow will bring more.
Struggles and victories.
I pray. Jesus, You were there for me yesterday. I know You will be present today. I know Your love for me will be with me tomorrow.
If I crawl back into bed tonight, I will once again lay my phone nearby, thank God for His presence throughout my day and ask Him to use me to His glory tomorrow.
There is a deep abiding joy in my life.
Jesus is speaking to the people in John 15:11. “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
Jesus’ desire is for His joy to be in us so our joy may be full.
My joy is full.
What about you? Has it been awhile since you felt that deep abiding love of Jesus in your life? Have you ever experienced it?
When I am publicly sharing my book, I often find myself in conversations with people who have never experienced this relationship. “Jesus waits for you too,” I often hear myself softly speaking. This surprises so many.
Message me if you would like to talk more about this.
“Lord, please come along side each of us. No matter the length and depth of our relationship with You, there are days when this life is hard. We want more of You, Lord. Show us what it looks like to live with more of You and less of us. We see You in our yesterday’s, we know you are present with us today and we look forward to all our tomorrow’s being full of You. Forgive us, lead us and fill us with joy overflowing. We love You. Amen.”
My book was published six months ago. The response has been so sweet. You can continue to my website www.janethines.com to purchase and can be found on Amazon. Let me know what you think and my prayer is for you to move closer to God in every day life. Finding Him there keeps us balanced and growing closer to Him.
