The same GOD...

          My recurring theme throughout my blogs is that God never fails, He is consistent, He is reliable, He is able. When I first heard the song, “Same God” performed by Elevation Worship, I had only heard a snippet of it during which time what resonated in my mind and spirit were the words, “You are the same God, You are the same God.” 
         It wasn’t just the mere words I think but the idea that the God of the past, was the same God of the present and He would be the same God of the future. This is comforting to me and should be so to many of us. The problem is, we forget so easily what God does for us, especially when a fresh problem, challenge or situation pops up.
         It was pretty much the same for the children of Israel in the Old Testament. God performed miracle after miracle proving that He was able to take care of them, He was able to keep them, He was able to do even above and beyond what any other had done for them or could do for them. Firstly, He preserved and kept them in Egypt. Instead of decreasing in number under all the hardships and trials they faced, they increased (Exodus 1:8-12). When God sent the plagues against the Egyptians, these did not affect the children of Israel even though they too were living in Egypt (Exodus 8:20-22; 9:6, 25-26; 10:22-23). God Himself finally miraculously delivered them out of Egypt (Exodus 12:31-32) and when they faced the Red Sea God made a way through it (Exodus 14:21-22)! Nothing was impossible for their God. Yet, in the wilderness, they complained and complained whenever anything happened that brought them discomfort. With each challenge they seemed to forget what God had done for them before.
         The God who delivered them from their Egyptian life of slavery, made a way for them through the Red Sea, helped them overcome every challenge they faced in the wilderness, made a way for them through the Jordan River (Joshua 3:14-17), got them safely into the Promised Land and helped them conquer and displace their enemies to possess what God had promised them!!! God did not stop until they had received the promise!
         What is the list of things that God has done for you? Even as you face challenges now, have you forgotten what God has done for you five years ago, ten years ago or even ten minutes ago? If God has brought you through challenges in the past, He will bring you through that hell you are going through now. God never forgets ... we do. He knows exactly how to deliver us from every situation. Some simply take longer than others. Some are more painful than others. And some seem more impossible than others. But, the one constant is that our God is the same God who brought us through each one and He will bring us through this one. 
         I too forget ... OFTEN! God has done so many things for me in the past and present yet, with each new challenge it’s as if my faith needs to be rebooted! I have to choose to remember His faithfulness to me and choose to be confident that He will take me through yet another challenge.
         Here are just a few lines of the song:
            You heard Your children then, You hear Your children now
                 You are the same God, You are the same God
            You answered prayer back then, and You will answer now
                You are the same God, You are the same God
            You were providing then, You are providing now
                You are same God, You are the same God
What I like is the repetition in each last line: You are the same God. But what I see in the first line of each verse is that the God who heard in the past, will hear now; the God who answered prayer in the past, will answer now; the God who provided in the past, will provide now... What God has done before, He will do again. He doesn’t change. Even when people, circumstances, situations change, our God remains the same. He continues to hear, to answer, to provide, to save, to heal, to deliver, to move ... many actions, past and present, but ONE God.
         So, my encouragement to us today is to stand on His faithfulness. As I said in my post last week, if He did it for you before, He will do it for you again!
         If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Savior, I encourage you to invite Him into your life now. God wants to be the God of your past and present. He wants to show His faithfulness to you. He will never fail you nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:8).

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