While in prayer this morning, before reading this passage, a thought came to me.  There is only One we can apply the words “never and always” to when talking to Him or about Him.  Humans do not fit this narrative of description but we try.  We are, well human. Let me explain. We really cannot “always” rely on ourselves to be or do anything. 

Using the word “never” cannot apply to humans either.  For example, “We never sin.”  Nope, we do. When talking to our loved ones, the word never sometimes slips out of our mouths in frustration,  “You never take out the trash when I ask you.”  Nope, sometimes they do (and we didn’t notice).  “You never tell me you love me.”  That isn’t true either if we are merely looking for the words and not the behaviors of love. Could we express our love more, yes, but does the word never fit the situation?  I doubt it.

We humans do not fall in the “always” category either.  “I will always stay with you, you can count on me.”  That just isn’t true, humans can’t possibly fulfill that statement no matter how deep your commitment is to another person.  There are too many instances and roadblocks that happen in life to prove this wrong.  We cannot physically or even mentally and emotionally be always attentive—we are human!

Only God is “always” and “never.”  God is ALWAYS with us.  God NEVER changes in His love and faithfulness to us.  “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”  John 3:16-17, NLT 

God’s love never changes.  There is nothing we can do that will change His love for us.

God always wants His best for us.  God always provides where He guides us.  God is always with us who believe and call on Him in the Name of Jesus, His Son.  God always hears every prayer we pray with sincere hearts.

God always hears our praises.  God always sees our hearts.  God is the giver of Life.  God will always fight our battles with the one who seeks to destroy us.  Isaiah speaks of this truth.

Isaiah 27, The Message

Selected Grain by Grain

At that time God will unsheathe his sword,
    his merciless, massive, mighty sword.
He’ll punish the serpent Leviathan as it flees,
    the serpent Leviathan thrashing in flight.
He’ll kill that old dragon
    that lives in the sea.

^2-5 “At that same time, a fine vineyard will appear.
    There’s something to sing about!
I, God, tend it.
    I keep it well-watered.
I keep careful watch over it
    so that no one can damage it.
I’m not angry. I care.
    Even if it gives me thistles and thornbushes,
I’ll just pull them out
    and burn them up.

Let that vine cling to me for safety,
    let it find a good and whole life with me,
    let it hold on for a good and whole life.”

⁶ The days are coming when Jacob
    shall put down roots,
Israel blossom and grow fresh branches,
    and fill the world with its fruit.

^-11 Has God knocked them to the ground
    as he knocked down those who hit them? Oh, no.
Were they killed
    as their killers were killed? Again, no.
He was hard on them all right. The exile was a harsh sentence.
    He blew them away on a fierce blast of wind.

But the good news is that through this experience
    Jacob’s guilt was taken away.
    The evidence that his sin is removed will be this:
He will tear down the alien altars,
    take them apart stone by stone,
And then crush the stones into gravel
    and clean out all the sex-and-religion shrines.
For there’s nothing left of that pretentious grandeur.
    Nobody lives there anymore. It’s unlivable.
But animals do just fine,
    browsing and bedding down.
And it’s not a bad place to get firewood.
    Dry twigs and dead branches are plentiful.
It’s the remains of a people with no sense of God.
    So, the God who made them
Will have nothing to do with them.
    He who formed them will turn his back on them.

^12-13 At that time God will thresh
    from the River Euphrates to the Brook of Egypt,
And you, people of Israel,
    will be selected grain by grain.
At that same time a great trumpet will be blown,
    calling home the exiles from Assyria,
Welcoming home the refugees from Egypt
    to come and worship God on the holy mountain, Jerusalem.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Come and worship God!  Come in gratitude to our God who is always with us and never changes in His love for us! 

God ALWAYS keeps His promises to His Chosen!  Satan held these nations in bondage through their superstitious religions, but the remnant—God’s People did not need to fear the false gods of the Gentiles. God’s people today are set free from bondage to Satan and the false gods which he seduces people to worship (See Colossians 2:13–15), and we can rejoice in our Lord’s great victory!

“Let that vine cling to me for safety, let it find a good and whole life with me,
    let it hold on for a good and whole life.”

Jesus, Son of God, said the same, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”  John 15:5

Jesus, the One and Only, is always The Way to Truth that gives eternal Life with God.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”  John 15:9-12

God always has the last word.  God never changes.

Lord,

Thank you for being our constant in life, our Savior and Lord, our Protector and Provider ALWAYS!  Thank you for never changing in your love for us.  Thank you for never changing your promises to us in an everchanging world of distracted and confused humans.  Open our eyes to see You.  Open our ears to hear your voice above all other voices and run to You.  Help us to love each other like you love us!

In Jesus Name, Amen