Today’s Scrip-Bit 21 July 2026 Hebrews 13:8.
Hebrews 13:8. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
So we’ve come to Tuesday, which opened with a very lively thunderstorm in the early morning hours. But that soon petered out and the light began to shine, until very recently when a big shower of rain descended upon my neighbourhood, leaving it wet and cloudy. And we certainly needed some good rain to quench the parched earth as well as wash away the smoke from the forest fires that are still burning in the northern areas of the province. That means we must keep on praying and doing whatever else we can to aid the cessation of those destructive fires.
Now, let’s look at a very interesting poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin, this one aptly titled, ‘The God Who Never Changes.’ Whether or not I’ve ever shared it before is unimportant, because it’s still very applicable to all our lives today in these ungodly and evil times. So please read with me. ‘It is irrefutably true: We have lost many opportunities that can never be retrieved. We have made foolish choices that can never be rectified. But we dare not live life in a spirit of despair and defeat.
As children of God we need to understand that all God’s discipline has but one objective: To bring us to the end of ourselves and back to Him! His desire is always to restore us, never to reject us. His goal is always to use us, never to ignore us. With confession, renewed surrender, and a heart that is fixed on him, God will do in us whatever He needs to do to make us whatever He wants us to be. Every necessary change God chooses to make is wonderfully possible because of Jesus, who never changes.’
And all God’s people said a loud and grateful, ‘Thank the Lord for that!’ Yes my fellow believers, we have to be everlastingly grateful for the fact that Jesus never changes, as the Scripture for the poem says: ‘Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.’ (Heb. 13:8) And that’s the living truth! Our Lord and Saviour never changes, therefore we are able to rely on, to put our total trust in Him and whatever He says.
And the author of Hebrews laid the foundation for that contention very early in his writings, when talking about the very meaningful difference between the angels and Jesus, that God’s Son is better than the angels. ‘And again, when he (God) bringeth in the firstbegotten (firstborn) into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirit, and his ministers a flame of fire.
But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre (a ruler’s staff) of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast LOVED righteousness, and hated iniquity (lawlessness); therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows (companions). And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they shall wax (grow) old as doth a garment; and as a vesture (cloak) shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.’ (Heb. 1:6-12)
Yes friends, the Father imbued the Son with power to create and destroy, but also that He himself shall be indestructible and never change! Glory to God! And that’s why the opening sentiments of the poem are ever so true. We’ve lost innumerable opportunities, which can never be retrieved, because that’s just the nature of a lost opportunity. We’ve also made numerous foolish choices that can never be rectified. However, with all of that, as supposed children of God, we ‘dare not live life in a spirit of despair and defeat.’ That would be the worst choice we could ever make.
And above all. we need to understand that all God does, falls into only one compartment; to reconcile us back to himself. Yes mih bredrin, that’s our God’s raison d’etre for everything He does in, with, to and for us! His only goal is to have us safely and LOVINGLY restored in His fold, in the marvellous image of His Son Jesus. Unlike us, God never rejects or refuses His children, but always does what ever is needed to restore them and bring them home to Himself.
Thus Bruh Paul reminds the Philippians: ‘Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform (complete) it until the day of Jesus Christ.’ (Phil. 1:6) Meaning that once God commences to turn us into the image of Christ, He won’t stop until His job is complete. Consequently, every day we can find ourselves in His potter’s hands, like a lump of clay being molded on His potter’s wheel into the very image of His wonderful Son, Jesus Christ. However, that change can only be successful if we sincerely confess our wrongdoing, surrender our lives to Him once again, and have a heart that’s irrevocably fixed on Him.
And we ought to always remember these ever so wise words of warning from Cousin Sol on the Lord’s discipline. ‘My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the Lord LOVETH he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.’ (Prov. 3:11-12) And unfortunately that’s where a lot of us make our mistake; taking God’s discipline for a lack of LOVE, when it’s the very reason behind the correction. And it’s no different to when we correct our children because we LOVE them, not because we want to hurt them. So let’s not take umbrage when the Lord tries to correct us, but understand it’s His LOVE working on our behalf.
Now let’s go home declaring our Tuesday Mantra, letting all and sundry know to whom we belong, lock, stock and barrel. As one strong and sincere voice: ‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with my immediate neighbours, as well as with the whole wide world! Glory be!’
That now makes us duty bound to go out and share the amazing LOVE and friendship of Christ with others, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!
…like all children…we need boundaries, safeguards and discipline…so that we don’t go astray…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
SCRIP-BITS 