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Malachi 3:6-7
"For I am the LORD, I do not change;
Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.
Yet from the days of your fathers
You have gone away from My ordinances
And have not kept them.
Return to Me, and I will return to you,"
Says the LORD of hosts.
"But you said,
'In what way shall we return?'
Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.
Yet from the days of your fathers
You have gone away from My ordinances
And have not kept them.
Return to Me, and I will return to you,"
Says the LORD of hosts.
"But you said,
'In what way shall we return?'
We had a short 4-day break last week — an invitation to join family on the Isle of Mull. The weather was forecast to be uniformly wet, but The Lord blessed us with sun and a joyful time; with the occasional shower to keep us cool. And apart from a brief interlude, the ‘feersum’ midges were held at bay.
During this visit, we revisited the wonderful Sgriob-Ruadh Farm, home of Isle of Mull Cheeses, and while there met Chris Reade, who started the business alongside her late husband. In our conversation, she asked what we thought of the changes at Calgary Farm where we were staying, run by her son Matthew and his wife Julia. Gill observed that change is something we have to accept, and Chris replied that her husband had often said that it was one thing of which we could be sure.
This lovely lady had seen many many changes in her lifetime — and no doubt many a heartache too — yet maintained a determination to carry on and appreciate what she had. It occurred to Gill and myself that she was a great example, and that change is inevitable in every life, and especially so in these fevered times.
Malachi shows us that our Lord never changes; He is consistent and steadfast; having no beginning nor end, and yet His creation is an ever-changing one, as He raises sons to glory. This for us is the conundrum — our God desires us to accept radical and overwhelming change to become unchanging and the image of Himself. He orchestrates this in us with His love and compassion and with never-ending unchanging mercy, which manages to be — in the words of the song — new every morning.
His constant refreshing and revitalising, His creative re-creation and restoration, His amazing re-imagining and re-forming embraces perpetual change that is eternally unchanging, and in this way grants us a security, stability and comfort to be found nowhere else. Only God can do that. We must return to Him in this way, just by turning to seek His face.
During this visit, we revisited the wonderful Sgriob-Ruadh Farm, home of Isle of Mull Cheeses, and while there met Chris Reade, who started the business alongside her late husband. In our conversation, she asked what we thought of the changes at Calgary Farm where we were staying, run by her son Matthew and his wife Julia. Gill observed that change is something we have to accept, and Chris replied that her husband had often said that it was one thing of which we could be sure.
This lovely lady had seen many many changes in her lifetime — and no doubt many a heartache too — yet maintained a determination to carry on and appreciate what she had. It occurred to Gill and myself that she was a great example, and that change is inevitable in every life, and especially so in these fevered times.
Malachi shows us that our Lord never changes; He is consistent and steadfast; having no beginning nor end, and yet His creation is an ever-changing one, as He raises sons to glory. This for us is the conundrum — our God desires us to accept radical and overwhelming change to become unchanging and the image of Himself. He orchestrates this in us with His love and compassion and with never-ending unchanging mercy, which manages to be — in the words of the song — new every morning.
His constant refreshing and revitalising, His creative re-creation and restoration, His amazing re-imagining and re-forming embraces perpetual change that is eternally unchanging, and in this way grants us a security, stability and comfort to be found nowhere else. Only God can do that. We must return to Him in this way, just by turning to seek His face.
Meditate On These Things
LAMENTATIONS 3:22-24
Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
"Therefore I hope in Him!"
Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
"Therefore I hope in Him!"
THE STEADFAST LOVE OF THE LORD NEVER CEASES — Maranatha Singers
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
Your mercies never come to an end;
They are new every morning,
New every morning:
Great is your faithfulness, O Lord,
Great is your faithfulness!
A HOLY PROMISE: Oswald Chambers on HOPE
— In Doubt: Hope in GOD --
EVERY TIME GOD presents us with a problem, He gives us something to match it in our own heart, and if we will let His power work there, we shall go forth with unshakeable confidence in what He can do. Once we know that God can do what Jesus Christ said He could, we can never be put in the place where we will be discouraged.
[from ‘So Send I You’]
[from ‘So Send I You’]
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