[x_custom_headline type=”left” level=”h4″ looks_like=”h4″]Okay, I’ll admit it, I enjoy a good John Wayne western movie from time to time. And among his movies, Big Jake has always been my favorite. And I realize of course, that not all of my readers even know who John Wayne was, but please bear with me.[/x_custom_headline]
In the movie Big Jake, John Wayne plays the part of Jacob McCandles, the patriarch of a family who is on the trail of some bandits who raided his ranch and kidnapped his eight year old grandson. And as a new generation comes to maturity, and new ways and new methods of getting things done arise, everyone is expecting Jake to be just like them and change with the times. So throughout the movie, there are those who cross paths with Jake, whom they had not seen in many years, and were certain that as times had changed that he had changed his beliefs and his methods too, just like they had done. And some even comment to him, “I thought by now that you had changed, Jacob.” And his response every time is, “Not one bit.”
In the end, it is the younger generation learning and submitting to the ways of the unchangeable Jacob McCandles that wins the day, causes the rescue of his grandson, and the destruction of the gang of bandits.
This movie always causes me to think of how in our day so many are trying to squeeze God and His Word into the mold of their own making, attempting to get Him to submit to their new ways and their new doctrines and beliefs. If these people would simply ask the Lord if He was willing to change with the times, His answer would surely be a resounding, “Not one bit.”
[highlight]In my nearly four decades of ministry I have watched as fellow ministers and fellow believers have begun to veer off from the sound doctrines found in the Bible.[/highlight] And both their teaching and their lifestyle have become a complete compromise of what is found in the Word of God.
In fact, some have through their twisted teaching proclaimed that what the Bible clearly reveals to be sinful is no longer sinful today. The standards of God’s Word are no longer for us they tell us, because times have changed.
Still others believe and teach that what the Lord had in times past done for His people is not available to us today. Evidently in their minds God has changed. But has He? Are His promises dead and gone? Are His standards outdated and ready for the junk pile? Will God not do for His people today what He did for other generations? Really?
Perhaps instead of debating these issues, the most intelligent thing we can do is see what the Bible says about all of these things. Because if we look to the scriptures for the answer to the questions about God and His Word changing, you will soon discover that He hasn’t changed at all.
[x_blockquote cite=”Hebrews 13:8 KJV” type=”left”]“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”[/x_blockquote]
You must become established in the fact that God never changes. Never. He is always the same. Malachi 3:6 tells us, “For I am the LORD, I change not….” If you don’t get this, you will just be another wishy-washy Christian who wavers back and forth on what they believe, like a drunken fisherman on the deck of a little ship in a stormy sea.
Your problem is never trying to get God to do what He promised. He is always the same, and He never changes His mind, not even for a second. Has the Lord changed? Not one bit!
[x_blockquote cite=”James 1:17 KJV” type=”left”]“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”[/x_blockquote]
Nothing about the Father God has changed or ever will change. Nothing about Jesus has ever changed or ever will change. And nothing about the Word of God has ever changed or ever will change. Nothing. Not one bit. He is always the same. Jesus is not hit and miss, randomly and unpredictably meeting the needs of one person while abandoning someone else.
For example, is Jesus a random Savior? Does He randomly save a few people and let everyone else burn in Hell? To believe that this is true is to call God a liar and to reject the Word of God. He wants everyone saved. However, each individual has to make the decision to receive the Lord as their Savior. Salvation is not forced upon anyone. But just because not everyone will receive the Lord’s salvation doesn’t mean that He has changed, for He hasn’t. [highlight]Not one bit![/highlight]
Is Jesus a random baptizer in the Holy Spirit? Does He randomly baptize a few believers and let all of the rest of His people do without His power? Of course not. But once again we must recognize that each individual believer has a part to play in this, and if they don’t believe what God said about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and/or refuse to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, this certainly doesn’t mean that God has changed.
You have to settle in your heart once and for all that the Lord hasn’t changed one bit. If He was the Healer in times past, He is the Healer today. But your decision to operate according to the Word of God will determine whether or not He is your Healer today. This same thing is true regarding God’s provision, His wisdom and answers you need for the challenges of your life, as well as His blessing on your marriage, children and grandchildren, and so on.
If we would stop making excuses for not conducting our lives according to the Word of God, and stop swallowing the lies about God changing, and all of His promises not being for us in our day, we would receive different results.
And furthermore, we must stop thinking that because other people have compromised in their conduct and lifestyle that the Lord is now okay with that and approves of it. Never base you beliefs about God on some other person’s failure to be a doer of the Word, or to live according to the standards found in the scriptures. [highlight]Because God has not, and will never change. Not one bit.[/highlight]
