The Cost of Discipleship - Elohim, the Faithful Covenant Keeping God

"The Discipline of Getting to Know God – Elohim, the Faithful Covenant Keeping God" “The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made.” (Psalm 145:13) EVERYTHING That God is, He is Eternally. He is love, and He loves you all the time. He is good, and he is good to you all the time. There are no ups and downs, highs and lows, or comes and goes with God. What he was to you yesterday when He showed you mercy and grace, He will show to you today. The acceptance you knew when He lifted you out of your sins is the same acceptance that upholds you today. The arms that were once around you to give you assurance, embrace you today. All the delights of His presence, all the joys of his face, all the gladness of His heart rests upon you today. (Roy Lessin) There was a time when to shake hands on an agreement was as binding, to faithful and honest men of integrity, as a signed agreement. Today I’m afraid to most people, shaking hands on an agreement is not binding. It is sad that so many people are not faithful to their word and cannot be trusted. But trusting God to keep His Word is a sure thing. Being faithful is part of His character which is unchangeable. He is faithful because He is faithful. If He were to fail to keep even one of His promises He wouldn’t be our Father God Whom we know and love. What a difference a day makes. As ever changing humans we are constantly in the flux of change. We are one day older; more of our cells have died; while the older are losing their hair, the younger are growing new hair; children lose baby teeth and grow permanent teeth; our bodies wear out; disease destroys healthy bodies; death brings a change from being mortal to being immortal. Human change is inevitable, but the immutable God never changes! Jehovah God, the God and Savior we serve is everlasting; He lives forever; He has neither beginning nor end; He never changes and He is always faithful; He is immutable. What do we mean by saying God is immutable? It simply means He is not capable of mutating. He is unchanging and unchangeable. He is everlasting; He is forever with no beginning or end; He is never changing and always faithful. Nothing outside Himself can affect change in Him. Jehovah God is eternal in His immutability. If He was not eternal He would not be Jehovah God. He is what He is and He is eternally all that He is. We live in time which is measured by years of days (light) and nights (darkness), which will continue until the Father will say, “Time will be no more.” Since time is limited, and since God is timeless, He will never grow old. He is as young and relative as today’s newspapers, yet as old as the eldest and wisest sage. Whatever we need Him to be, He is, since He is eternal. James names God, “the Father of all light. He is forever full of light and all light comes from Him – He is light. In Him there is no darkness – no shadows. In the morning the shadows fall to the west and in the evening they fall to the east. Shadows are determined by the changing of the light. But in God there is not even a shadow of change because He is Light (James 1:17). He is eternally unchanging! Because our God is complete and perfect in all of his attributes which display Who He is and what He does. He is and was and will always be (Rev.16:6). He never changes. If He changed He would not be “the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb.13:8), because He is eternally the same. His Word and His promises are eternal – they will never change (Heb.13:6). All His attributes are eternal and unchanging. The counsel and thoughts of His heart never change - (Ps.33:11). He will always be our dwelling place - (Ps.90:1). His throne is forever - (Ps.93:2). His glory will last forever - (Ps.104:31). His righteousness endures forever - (Ps.111:3); His name/s and all they mean are forever – (Ps.135:13); His kingdom is forever – (Ps.145:13). His reign is forever – (Ps.146:10). His strength is forever – (Isa.26:4, 40:28). He is the first and the last (and all the way in-between – (Isa.44:6). His ways are everlasting - (Hab.3:6). He is the eternal King full of wisdom and grace - (I Tim.1:17). In Christ we have a sure foundation (Isaiah 28:16a) God said of Himself in Malachi 3:6, “I am the LORD, I do not change.” Jesus is the friend who will never leave us nor forsake us, never, never, no never (Hebrews 13:5)! He is the eternal Savior Who is as faithful to save us today as He was two thousand years ago. Heaven and earth may pass away but His Word never changes, It never compromises nor goes out of style. Our Savior’s love is as dependable today as it was 2,000 years ago when He died for us. God has shown His faithfulness over all time. Remember His faithfulness He showed to all living creatures on the earth after the flood with His covenant of the rainbow (Gen.6:18), His faithfulness to the children of Israel to deliver them out of Egypt and bring them into the land He promised – (Duet.7:8-9). God’s thoughts and ways are not our thoughts and ways (Isaiah 55:8-9), so we must just wait on Him to work out His purposes (Philippians 2:13), because He is faithful and He will do what He says He will do. His promises are “yes and amen” to all who trust Him (II Cor.1:20), and His faithful acts are always in love. When everything around us and within us is shaking, focus on God’s immutability. If you have faith in Jehovah God, you must have faith in His immutability. Remember, He is the immovable Rock - (Duet.32:4); His mercies are new every morning – (Lam.3:22-23; Ps.100:5); His love is everlasting - (Rom.8:38-39; II Tim.2:13); through Jesus Christ His promises are forever (II Cor.1:20;); He always remembers our labor of love – (Heb.6:10); He forgives our sins forever - (I Jn.1:9); His promise will come in His time - (Heb.10:37; II Pet.3:9). He is Elohim/El Elyon – YHWY God, the strongest strong one, faithful, covenant keeping God,” universal Creator.” “His work is perfect, for all His ways are law and justice. A God of faithfulness without breach or deviation, just and right is He” (Duet.32:4). If you believe the Word and the record He continues to leave, you know Jehovah God is eternal, immutable and faithful. In times of instability, focus on God’s immutability. Blessed be the Faithful, Eternal and Immutable God!! Great Is Your Faithfulness Thomas O. Chisholm Great is Your faithfulness, O God my Father! There is no shadow of turning with You. You change not; Your compassions, they fail not; as You have been You forever will be. Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, sun, moon and stars in their courses above join with all nature in manifold witness to Your great faithfulness, mercy and love. Great is Your faithfulness! Great is Your Faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed Your hand has provided. Great is Your faithfulness, Lord, unto me!