“…the Lord appeared unto Abram and said to him, ‘I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you and will multiply you exceedingly.'” Genesis 17:1,2
In the revelation of Jesus Christ to the Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos, the Lord declared: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (1:8) In the book of Hebrews, we find written: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (13:8) What is the message that God is seeking to communicate to us which is essential to the faith needed to believe Him today for His highest and best? It is that God, in Christ, and Christ in us, is forever the same. The Almighty God who revealed Himself to Abraham is the same Almighty God who manifested Himself to Isaiah when he wrote: “…and His name shall be called…Mighty God.” (Is. 9:6) He is the God of whom Jeremiah the prophet spoke when he declared: “Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.” (32:17) Even the Lord, in the same passage in Jeremiah’s book, affirms that which Jeremiah had previously declared: “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?” (32:27) And then when we come to the New Testament, first in the book of Hebrews, we discover afresh the fact that Christ is perpetually the same Almighty God, yesterday, today and forever. The eternal God, the God of the everlasting covenant with men, revealing how they can be saved and sanctified, is also, and at the same time, the glorified, exalted Christ, for whom nothing is impossible. The question then arises, “Is He the Almighty God today before me, and in my heart by His Spirit, as He has always been and forever will be?” And secondly, “Can we trust Him for that which He declared to Abraham, and which He reaffirms throughout Scripture, that He came to give Life, and this Life in abundance, revealed by the fruits of the Spirit increasingly, and confirmed by the accomplishment of His will in every believer, and in His church? Can we believe Him to BE such today, in every circumstance, and in the face of every need?
One of the areas where the believer in Christ, His child and disciple, is in the matter of guidance. We are apt to minimize the significance of this issue, as we look at guidance pertaining to only isolated events, requiring faith. We seek the Lord for guidance for one circumstance and then another, for one need and then another, without seeing Him as not only the Almighty God of those individual calls to faith, but the God of all. He is the God of every aspect of being led by the Spirit. This God of all circumstances is able to meet us and lead every one of us in the circumstances of His choosing, and this by His Almighty power and wisdom, mercy and love. Can we trust Him for such guidance, guidance where faith is fixed upon Him to bring about His perfect will and purpose, so that His name will be lifted up before men, and they will see and know that He is God?
In the Gospel of John, in Christ’s great high priestly prayer which He uttered before His crucifixion, He asked the Father: “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they ALL may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (17:20,21) The Almighty Savior and Shepherd is calling every child of God, to grasp by faith the mystery of oneness with Christ. Herein is revealed His glory.
Dear Father, Guide us constantly today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.