BUT WAIT......THERE'S MORE!!
That the character and nature of the God of the Bible is unchanging - that He is a God who can be fully trusted to perform His Word, is made clear by a large number of statements in the Bible - the original texts being wholly inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Verses such as the following attest to the Lord God's faithfulness to be true to His stated character:
Praise the LORD who has given rest to His people Israel, just as He promised. Not one word has failed of all the wonderful promises He gave through His servant Moses 1 Kings 8:56
God is not a man that He should lie, neither the son of man that He should repent; has He said, and shall He not do it? Or has He spoken, and it not come to pass. Behold, I have received a commandment to bless, and I cannot reverse it. Numbers 23:19,20
Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, "My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all My purpose," calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it. Isaiah 46:9-11
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Hebrews 13:8
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and fear. For our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:28,29
As our Unchangeable Lord, the Living God can be fully trusted to be faithful to perform His Word. He is not a capricious God, who is unpredictable in His moods and temperament. He is a TOTALLY GOOD GOD!
The Bible says in Romans 2:4 Do you despise the riches of His goodness, not knowing that goodness [or kindness] of God leads you to repentance?
Psalm 34:8 says Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
Psalm !00:5 For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.
James 1:17 tells us: Every good and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
Our God is the God of Light. In Him, there is no darkness at all.
God is LOVE personified, as expressed in John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
Although the nature and character of God is unchangeable - in His plans and His purposes for His people - concerning the nation of Israel and for the Christian Church, the body of Christ - CHANGE is ordained by God.
For the follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, CHANGE IS NOT OPTIONAL. It is a requirement of every disciple of the Lord. Change commences at the point of conversion. As Paul the apostle states in 1 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ [or becomes a Christian], he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
As we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts and lives by the regeneration of the Word of God, renewing our minds and bringing us into alignment with God's will and purposes for us, we are being changed, as it says in 2 Corinthians 3:17,18 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty [or freedom]. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
God does not want us to live lives that are "same old-same old," just going through the motions of living day after day, month after month, year after year. THERE IS ALWAYS MORE!
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2:9 Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared
for those who love Him.
Daniel 11:32b says: Those who know their God shall be strong and will carry out great exploits.
God is calling the church of Jesus Christ to ARISE AND SHINE for the glory of God to a world that is increasingly descending into deep darkness.
Over the past two millenia since the church was birthed on the Day of Pentecost, there have been many "revivals" - times when the Spirit of the Living God has moved in ways in nations and in communities that have seen the name of Jesus exalted and truths of the Word of God being highlighted, to be catalysts for times of renewal and spiritual refreshing.
It is encouraging to realise that, even in the Dark Ages, when the church was mostly made up of a priestcraft, who were steeped in religious tradition, without life and without Holy Spirit power, there were pockets of real Holy-Spirit inspired life, where Jesus was exalted as Saviour and Lord.
Over the past five hundred years, what are known as Jesus' five-fold "ascension-gift ministries", as stated in Ephesians 3:11-14, have been restored to the Christian church, commencing with the ministry of pastor in the Protestant Reformation in the 1500's, followed by the evangelist ministry being restored in the 1700's with notable people such as John and Charles Wesley, and George Whitefield. in the 60's and 70's in the last century, the ministry of Teacher was restored to the church with the Charismatic Movement, and in the past thirty to forty years, the ministries of first, Prophet and in more recent years, that of Apostle have been being restored to the church.
The apostle Peter in Acts 3:19-21 calls on people to: Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ......whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.
In the last one hundred and twenty years, there have been a number of significant revivals in different parts of the world, kicking off with the Welsh Revival in 1904-1905. In less than six months, over 100,000 people got saved and the entire nation was radically transformed. This released momentum which saw the Asuza Street Revival in Los Angeles from 1906, which birthed a number of Pentecostal church movements.
The Hebrides Islands saw a significant revival on the island of Lewis in 1949, in answer to intercessory prayer initiated by two sisters in their eighties, who were burdened for the churches, especially as there was not a single young person in the churches. Healing ministries in the twentieth century saw multitudes of people healed miraculously by the power of God. Increasingly the gifts of the Holy Spirit have been manifested in the church and in communities outside the four walls of church buildings by those Christians, filled with the Holy Spirit, who have been motivated by love for the lost and have been willing to step out in boldness and take God at His Word, when Jesus said: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater than these shall he do, because I go to the Father." John 14:12
TO BE CONTINUED
