Hebrews 13:8 — Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Despite fickle NGO/mission boards, feelings, fear, people, governments, churches, pastors and donors, nothing changes. Our calling, God Himself, nor Nicaragua’s needs have changed in the 33+ years that I’ve been here.
The one and only True God has 8 attributes that He alone has. No one else. Only God has the following @ 100%:
(1) Immutability: God never changes in His character, will, or being.
(2) Simplicity: God has no parts or divisions; His essence and His existence are identical.
(3) Perfection: God lacks nothing and possesses every conceivable excellence in fullness.
(4) Goodness: God is the ultimate source of all good, and His nature is inherently good.
(5) Infinity: God is unlimited by space, time, or any physical constraints.
(6) Ubiquity (Omnipresence): God is present everywhere and fills all creation completely.
(7) Eternity: God exists outside of time with no beginning or end.
(8) Unity (Oneness): God is entirely unique and one, without division or multiple gods.
Today, as we talk about God (our only reason for existing is to know God and to make Him known to others) we are going to learn that God doesn’t change.
1. Lesson one is that God is not fickle! Nor should His followers be!
As we are being conformed to Christ’s image, childish things and hobbies fall away. On top of losing my fickleness, I simply don’t have time to surf, shoot, run and lift. Those things no longer interest me. I do work out about an hour a day, but other than that it’s all about knowing God and making Him known to others.
Romans 8:29 is probably my favorite verse now. Romans 8:28 used to be, but this is much more relevant to me now. I am being transformed to the image of Christ Jesus. One of the things I leave behind as I am being conformed into Christ’s image is fickleness, because God is not fickle.
Romans 8:29 — For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Most (if not all) sin is caused by fickleness. Fickleness springs out of feelings. Suicide, adultery, belief, greed, doubt, witnessing, being a good testimony, being honest, being trustworthy etc. all come from feelings, which leads to fickleness. The Bible calls it double minded.
James 1:8 — a double minded man is unstable in all his ways
A double minded man is guided by feelings. The garbage dump where we work is filled with double minded parents. That’s why a lot of them live in filth and eat rotten food. They get a job, but when it’s early morning they don’t feel like getting up, so they lose their opportunity. See a bottle of rum? They drink it. See another woman? They give her a baby that neither can afford.
There is no freedom in fickleness, only heart ache, poverty, sin and slavery. Follow Jesus and your life has purpose. I work out an hour a day and I absolutely hate it. Spent my life doing it to excess, and now I am sick of it. But I still do it, an hour a day, because I need to be active for my ministry, for my love of Christ. He gives me purpose. All my Christian fellowship comes from kids half my age, because I led them to the Lord decades ago. (Home grown!) I fellowship with my Christian sons and daughters. Which is awkward at times. But I still gotta be able to walk the hills, evangelize door to door, preach, teach, and play with kids. Hopefully for another 33 years, Lord willing. Move or die.
When I wake up, I am ready to get going. I have a ‘why’. That ‘why’ is souls. Jesus is coming, if we don’t die first. I get moving, not out of fear but out of His great love He spread abroad in my heart. When the parents and kids I minister to don’t have Christ, it’s hard to even get them out of their beds, let alone teach them something. Even the little guys, they’re sleepyheads. When you have Christ, you lose your fickleness because you have important stuff to do.
2 Corinthians 5:14 — For the love of Christ constraineth us;
By default I am the go to missionary if a Christian or expat goes off the rails. Besides other missionaries, the US Embassy calls me, Managua hospitals, police, fire department all call me when there’s a problematic American. Unfortunately of the problematic Americans, many are or were missionaries. Most in fact. The first thing I ask them is ‘what about Jesus? What about your testimony that you spent years building?’ I can ask them that because I have personally been there.
Many American Missionaries (and churches) tend to run from a missionary who’s sick or wounded on the mission field. The Army is better in that aspect than Christian ministry. No man left behind. Not even KIAs. Anyways, so they all call me, at all hours of the day or night. It’s an honor, but it is always extremely messy. I would say that every failed Christian, pastor or missionary I have dealt with has failed because of fickleness brought on by feelings. Billy Graham said “three things kill ministries, Girls, gold or glory”. I would like to change that. One thing kills ministry, “fickleness brought on by feelings”.
Fickleness is deadly. The Greek word for double minded (fickle) is “split soul”. I know that feeling, been there done that. English students suddenly deciding to study Hebrew instead because they said English was too hard (true story). Ex-Christians telling me they “tried Christianity but it just didn’t work out”. Really?? Missionaries who tell their church that God has called them to Nicaragua to raise support, and a year later they’re ‘called to Germany’ after the National Geographic phase wears off, and they want some shiny new experience.
Cure for fickleness. One word, NO!
No plan B
No giving into feelings
No looking at the green grass on the other side of the fence
No giving yourself an out
No excuses
No breaking your self discipline or good habits/moral code
No fickleness
No doubting
No double mindedness
No sin
No remembering the leeks and onions from Egypt (slavery, it’s easy to forget the ‘making twice as many bricks with no straw’ part)
No globetrotting for Jesus. Donors, and your flesh, love the idea of Holy Ghost hobos, God doesn’t, nor do the souls depending on you to not be a fickle sissy.
Just say no! Take your thoughts captive. Don’t be like the guy who put his hand to the plow and looks back, nor Lot’s wife. Eyes straight ahead and Trust Him!
God hasn’t changed. What He called you to do hasn’t changed. What He can do and won’t do will never change either. Healing is for today just like it was 2,000 years ago. Likewise, if it was sin then, it still is today. No matter what the common consensus is.
Love God, Hate sin. Be transformed into His image. Don’t be fickle.
2 Timothy 2:13 — If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.