The Overwhelming Importance of Christians Understanding the Immutable, Unchangeable, Steadfast Nature of Christ!

21 Jul 2026 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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

The Importance of Christians Understanding that God, like a Potter, is Remodelling Them Every Day into the Image of Christ!

07 Apr 2026 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Jeremiah 18:6b.        Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

And not because it’s Easter Tuesday and we gone back out to work means that the Easter celebrations over …Not by a long shot! For they are continuing in full swing at the Goat Races down in the seaside town of Buccoo in sweet Tobago! And oh, do I ever have some fond memories of Goat Race Tuesday‘s in Buccoo, but that was before it got so big that they built a stadium to house it.

Back then it was held in a field between some houses, and in several of those houses loud parties would be happening, while the goats and crabs ran. Yes, crabs did run in those days too! (smile) Back then it was a more inclusive and personal occasion, as opposed to the new situation of paying customers sitting down watching an event. It’s still a great time, though it lacks the spontaneity and vivacity of the earlier, less controlled era.

Ah friends, the ole fella’s lived a fairly long life, and though it’s been pretty tough many times along the way, when I look back at those tough times, I can definitely see the Lord’s hand guiding and protecting me through them. And believe me, there are still tough times today, but now I look to the Lord and cry out for help, when they come around. And He might not help me exactly when I need it, or in the way I desire, but I can always feel His presence hovering over me, waiting for the right time for His intervention.

And although I don’t like His timing, (smile) He’s never really late, but always just in time. Just before you go over the cliff, He reaches down and rescues you. Now, that’s not always easy to endure, but once you experience it a few times, your faith grows stronger with each occurrence, and you wait with bated breath amidst much pain and sorrow for His imminent rescue. (smile) And we wonder why it sometimes takes so long for Him to rescue us, when He has the power to do it right away.

But He’s the Creator and Controller and has His own reasons for His varied actions, many of which we can’t and don’t want to understand, for we will be even more flabbergasted than normal. And, as He long ago said through the prophet Isaiah: ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.’ (Is. 55:8) Now, that’s putting it in a very mannerly and decent way. (smile) But with our small and finite minds we can never hope to understand the reasons for Him doing what He does.

However, in His incomparable goodness and mercy, He does promise, as Bruh Paul writes to the Corinthians: ‘There hath no temptation taken (overtaken) you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear (endure) it.’ (1 Cor. 10:13) Now that doesn’t mean He will always recuse us, but if He doesn’t, then He will provide a way for us to endure the negative situation.

And why is that you ask? Well, it could be for several reasons, like growing our faith, for our faith doesn’t grow in good, easy times, but in rough, tough ones. And also for testing said faith; seeing how strong it is, how much aggravation it can bear up under. (smile) For remember God’s main purpose is to have us become strong and faithful like His Son Jesus Christ, which means breaking us and building us like a potter does a piece of clay.

It’s like how the Lord said to the prophet Jeremiah: ‘Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potters house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels (the Potter’s wheel). And the vessel he made (was making) of clay was marred (ruined) in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.’ (Jer. 18:2-6)

Yes my fellow believers, we are like clay in the Lord’s hands. He created us and He can recreate us into any shape or image He desires. Although His preferred image to turn us into is that of His wonderful Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It’s like Bruh Paul wrote to 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 we come to God seeking salvation and eternal life, He will begin to change us into the image of Christ, and will do so, everyday we’re alive, or until Christ returns to earth.

So, as believers, we cannot get away from the potter’s work of God’s hands. And it’s not easy being formed or marred on the potter’s wheel, or being placed in the oven to harden, but in going though it all, we have to cast our minds forward to the end product; the beautiful, glowing replica of Christ that we will all eventually become, using it as encouragement and reassurance to stand the pain of becoming like Jesus.

And mih bredrin, I know of which I speak, not from hearsay, but from personal experience, for sometimes when I write certain stuff here, before it can even reach you, the Lord is already working it out in me. And when I eventually realize that fact, despite the painful situation I might be in, I just have to chuckle at how our great God moves in very mysterious ways.

So, as we keep saying, living for Jesus is by no means a Sunday afternoon stroll in the park, but by the same token, we can still enjoy the tough times we go through living for Him, as the eventual rewards are marvellous and incomparable. It’s as Dr. Schuller says: ‘Tough times don’t last, but tough people do.’ And we are indeed tough people, tough like our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!

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!’ 

Now, it behooves us 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!

…from sinner to saint…the process can be long and arduous…but every tough step is worthwhile…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien