Change

Definition: Change is to become different; to undergo a transformation or to pass through a transitional phase.

1. All things change, but Jesus never.
• Hebrews 1: 10-12 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of Thine hands: 11 They shall perish; but Thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; 12 And as a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail. [See also Psalm 102: 25-27.]
• Malachi 3: 6a For I am the Lord, I change not.
• Hebrews 13: 8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
• James 1: 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from Above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with Whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
2. Carnal man resists changes.
• Luke 5: 39 No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.
• Psalm 49: 11 Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.
• Mark 7: 9 And He said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
3. Changes often test our faith that God knows best and is working out His perfect plan for us.
• Job 1: 21 And [Job] said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the Name of the Lord.
• Hebrews 11: 17, 19 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
• Philippians 2: 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
4. Ultimately, God's changes are always good for us.
• Romans 8: 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.
• Psalm 55: 19b Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.
• Psalm 84: 11b No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.
• Jeremiah 29: 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
• Mark 7: 37b He hath done all things well.
• Luke 12: 32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.
• 2 Timothy 1: 12b For I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.
• Philippians 1: 6 Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
5. Yieldedness to the Lord's will is the key to being able to accept changes gracefully.
• 1 Samuel 3: 18b It is the Lord: let Him do what seemeth Him good.
• Psalm 40: 8 I delight to do Thy will, O my God: yea, Thy law is within my heart.
• Isaiah 64: 8 But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou our potter; and we all are the work of Thy hand.
• Jeremiah 42: 6a Whether it be good, or whether it be evil [difficult], we will obey the voice of the Lord our God.
• Matthew 6: 10b Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven. [Also Luke 11: 2b.] [See also Adaptability, #8.]
6. During times of change, we must do two things: forget the past and keep our eyes on the goal ahead.
• Philippians 3: 13,14 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
• 2 Corinthians 4: 18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
• Colossians 3: 2 Set your affection on things Above, not on things on the earth.
• Hebrews 12: 2a Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.
7. Jesus is our security in times of change.
• Hebrews 6: 19a Which hope [in God] we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast.
• Hebrews 13: 5b He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
• Psalm 139: 9-10 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10 Even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me.
• Romans 8: 38,39 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.