He hasn't changed

There is a fun song that some of my friends and I used to sing to remind us of God's faithfulness and continuous presence in our lives. Sadly I really can't remember any of the verses, or even the tune, but the simple chorus remains with me, and it goes something like, "He's Still Here, He's Still Here..."

It reminds me of Psalm 46:1-7.

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Of course, the advantage we have over the people who would speak or sing the words of that Psalm is that God actually indwells us! He is truly ever-present in a deeper and more meaningful way - in fact He has become our very LIFE and He has joined Himself together with us forever in our spirits.

In my life, I've been shaken at times because of various people, circumstances, problems, thoughts, doctrines, etc. I'm essentially talking not about a physical shaking, but a shaking of the heart and mind (which, of course, often manifests itself in the physical realm). Sometimes the "shaking" has turned out to be a good thing, and at other times not. (I know I've also been the source of the shaking of other people during my lifetime, again, sometimes for the good and sometimes not). But no matter what, there has always been one constant. God remains the same! He remains a refuge and strength, an ever-present help. He hasn't changed.

At the age of 23, several months after I had begun a deeper walk with the Lord in 1992, I got a knock at my door that some of you may be familiar with. A man in his 40's and a boy, perhaps 12 or 13, stood there and asked if I was interested in talking about God. I let these two Jehovah's Witnesses in and we had a chat that, well, shook me up a little - or a LOT! They (mostly just the man) shared some things with me, right out of the Bible, and the way it was spun was pretty darn convincing! Well, I shared a few things that I knew from the scriptures, and they responded to every single thing I said with their own 'version' of the truth, again pretty convincingly. All I know is, if this was a debate, I certainly hadn't "won."

Probably perceiving that some of what he was saying might have a chance of getting through to me, the man asked if I minded if they came back again the next week. At the time I thought to myself what a great opportunity it would be for me to look up some scriptures to counteract what they were saying. So I did my homework - I mean I really dug into the scriptures with my Strong's Concordance coming heavily into play - and I prayed a lot, and in the end I was satisfied that I was "prepared," although nervous, for the next visit.

This time around the twelve year old boy was absent, and in his place was another man. This man was actually someone I already knew. He had once been a member at my dad's church, but had converted to the Jehovah's Witness religion. Again we chatted about the scriptures, and I brought out all my "research," thinking I had all my bases covered. But again, everything I said was immediately counteracted with their well-prepared, time-tested false doctrines, and again as they left I was shaken, and not just a little scared as well.

But you see, here I am today, 16 years later, and as you can tell I'm not under the influence of any of that junk. During that time I prayed a lot! I searched the scriptures. I asked God for wisdom and truth, and for understanding. I did not get my answers right away, but over time I grew and I learned more and more of the truth. In fact, as I look back, I see how my understanding and perception of God and of who I am in Him has changed over the years. As I look back to just a year ago, or five years ago, or fifteen years ago, and even to 30+ years ago in my boyhood, I see how my understanding and perception has changed.

I'm saying all of this for a couple of reasons. First off, to point out how God is faithful and true, and will not leave us hanging but will lead and guide us, and teach us, even if we don't "get" it all. But secondly, and really what I was intending to lead up to here: Although my understanding and perceptions have changed, GOD hasn't changed. I've been through tugs-of-war in my heart and mind because of issues of doctrine, circumstances, problems, etc, but I can rest assured that in all of this God hasn't flinched, and His TRUTH hasn't changed a bit! People, including me, have all kinds of things to say about what is truth and what isn't truth, and I think it's true that He speaks His truth to us through each other, and it's natural for us to keep sharing the things we've learned with each other. I think it's also true that we can be totally wrong about things! But in the end, I know that HE knows the truth, because He IS the truth, and even when foreign doctrines come my way, or circumstances look way out of my control, or I'm uncertain about things, I can still rest in Him, and be at peace.

God is eternal, and a strong tower. We, in and of ourselves, are clay jars. My hope is not in being able to get everyone to accept my doctrines and my hope is not in dissuading others from believing falsehoods. Yes, I'll continue to share what I believe and I'll spend time trying to dissuade others from believing false doctrines! But my hope is the unchanging Christ in me, not the doctrines that I believe.

Heb 13:8-9
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace..."

Any thoughts?