Day #81 - The Same

The Presence - A Devotional for Living in Thanksgiving, Worship and Wonder

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭13‬:‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Photo by Ilona Frey on Unsplash

Have you ever had a friend or family member and you weren’t sure what version of them was going to meet you when they showed up?

I don’t know about you, but I like people that are consistent. None of us is perfectly consistent, but thank God for friends and family who are people of character that show up faithfully in life. It’s so stressful at times when people have moods and attitudes that are all over the place.

As we explore the presence of Jesus and look at his life in the gospels, we need to remember something very important, he is always the same. As the writer of Hebrews tells us, who he was yesterday is the same today and will be the same forever. Jesus is unchanging in his character and nature. He consistently shows up for us.

Thats what is so amazing about being a person of the presence, we can come to know who he is and what he likes and he never deviates from that. I remember hearing Graham Cooke say “God is consistent but rather unpredictable, where often we are inconsistent and rather predictable.” This is what Jesus is like, we don’t always know how he is going to do something or what he will do, but we always know who he is. His ways are consistent.

I had to learn how to come into the presence of Jesus without anxiety. I would sometimes act like I didn’t know how Jesus was going to meet me or deal with me. I was living in an un-renewed mind. But as I started to become convinced of the character and ways of Jesus I gained confidence before God since Jesus is the clearest expression of who he is.

When Jesus was healing the sick in his presence in the Bible, it shows us that healing is in his presence today.

When Jesus welcomed the sinner, the broken, the sick and the hurting in his presence in the Scriptures, it shows us he welcomes the same type of people in his presence today.

When Jesus cast out devils and set captives free in his presence in the Gospels, it shows us that he is still setting people free from oppression in his presence today.

When we read the Bible and see who Jesus is, we are reading of what is possible if we encounter him in his manifest presence today. He changes not. When you see Jesus for who he truly is, you can learn as I did to come to him in boldness and confidence. Jesus is the same and wow is he ever good, holy, true and kind. I don’t want to stay away. Do you?

Jesus, you are the same yesterday, today and forever. I worship you. I don’t want to stay away but rather live in divine pursuit of you. I can trust you. You can’t be tamed because you are powerful. You are unpredictable but in a way that is for my good, my healing and my freedom. I trust you. I love to come before you with any need I have. Open my eyes as I read about you so that I might long to know you more and come to you in passionate pursuit. In your name, amen.