The God Who Stays: Life Looks Different With Him by Your SideShembull

God Stays the Same

The Gospel of John begins by talking about Jesus much differently than the other Gospels do. John called Jesus “the Word.” He said,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:1–3).

John told us that Jesus was present at creation, that He is the foundation of everything God made. Then he explained that Jesus was the Word of God made into a human form. The person of Jesus is the manifestation of God’s truth from the beginning of time. We lean on the promises of God’s Word by following Jesus.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus took His disciples and a few of His other followers up on a mountain near the Sea of Galilee to do a seminar that Bible scholars named the “Sermon on the Mount.” He said that

“Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock” (Matt. 7:24–25).

If we look to Jesus and lean on the promise of His words, we will be able to face all that life can bring us. Jesus continued with a warning,

“everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash” (vv. 26–27).

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand. Jesus is the promise I can trust. The Word of God is the only word that truly delivers.

I am learning that God’s Word is the antidote to the chaos and empty promises of the world. Our days are filled with so much noise. What does it look like to spend time with God’s truth and allow it to grow in my soul?

When I spend time in God’s Word, I see the reflection of God’s enduring and faithful love. From the intimacy of those daily walks in the garden of Eden in the cool of the day to the last moment of the Gospels before Jesus’ ascension, where He promised, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:20), my heart is moved by the revelation that the entire message of the gospel is a message of pursuit. God is faithfully running in my direction.

Jesus told Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Think about those words for a moment and the truth that the promises of God know no limits. None of us, no matter how hard we try, even in our best efforts and intentions, could ever live up to that kind of faithful love in our own words and deeds. To put John 3:16 bluntly: God loves you so relentlessly and so loyally that He voluntarily offered up His one and only Child to be crucified, executed, beaten, spit on, and nailed to a cross, just so that He could be close to you again. Maybe John 3:16 is all about God working on His new normal for you. That means that His love is there when we face evil, temptation, illness, and even death. The Bible tells us that God is faithful to complete the work He has begun in each one of us. And the completion of His work in me means that He is always calling me into new life.

Jesus consistently brings us out of the grave and delivers us from the dead spaces in life. And His faithfulness is for the “inconsistent, unsteady disciples whose cheese is falling off their cracker”—just like me!

There is a wonderful scene in the Bible where Jesus was sparring with the Sadducees about the character of God, and He told them, “God says, ‘I am—not was.’ . . . The living God defines himself not as the God of dead men, but of the living” (Matt. 22:31–32 MSG). He is the One who is always moving us away from death and toward the things that are eternal. And praise God that His resurrection work in my life is not dependent on my consistency. He is faithfully saying, “Matthew, come forth!” each new day. And I hope that with each new season of life, I am removing more and more of what’s weighing me down! Living a resurrection life isn’t dependent on us; it is the work of Jesus, and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Have you ever considered that maybe “resurrection life” is supposed to be our new normal?

I want my new normal to be that I trust God as my solid Rock. He is the One I can always count on. He is my refuge, strength, and ever-present help in trouble (Ps. 46:1). I am learning to apply the promise that I have been given that Jesus is always there with me. I want to invite you into that promise too. I can hear Him calling your name—“Come forth” into the new life and the new normal He is offering to all of us.

Respond

Have you given your life to Jesus Christ?

Describe your salvation experience.

If you haven’t yet, who can you talk to about eternal life?

Prayer

Glorious Savior, my life is yours for eternity. I love You!