“ Lord” is the Hebrew word for Jehovah and Jehovah means that God is eternal, self-sufficient, and self-existent. God is the God who created the heavens and the earth. These things have changed over time, but God does not change. God is the God who has no beginning and no end. In Malachi 3:6, God is referring to His attributes of patience, longsuffering, and mercy. In Malachi’s day, many of the people thought God would change. But God has always remained faithful to His promises.
The Available God:
“I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.” Mal 3:6, NIV
“ Lord” is the Hebrew word for Jehovah and Jehovah means that God is eternal, self-sufficient, and self-existent. God is the God who created the heavens and the earth. These things have changed over time, but God does not change. God is the God who has no beginning and no end. In Malachi 3:6, God is referring to His attributes of patience, longsuffering, and mercy. In Malachi’s day, many of the people thought God would change. But God has always remained faithful to His promises.
Think back about your last blessing, great or small, and give God thanks. Let’s personalize this. Say out loud, “God was the same for me yesterday. God is the same for me today, and God will be the same for me tomorrow. Amen.” God is available today. God was available yesterday, and God will be available tomorrow. When you call on God, you will not hear a voice say, “This message box is full.” When you call on God, you will not hear, “Hello, this is God speaking. I am not at My throne right now. Please leave a message, and I’ll get back to you as soon as my schedule allows.”
An unavailable God is not the God I am talking about. I am talking about the God whom Moses asked, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ Then, what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I Am Who I Am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites, “The I Am has sent me to you.” I am talking about the “I Am God” who is immutable.
—To be continued.
Heavenly Father:
How excellent is Your name in all the earth. For You are a faithful God. Father, help me to be faithful in my walk with You. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
© 2010 Gertie Loretta Hurley
Excerpted from the sermon, “The Available God: The Same Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow,” preached by Rev. Dr. Gertie Lorettta Hurley on Sunday, April 25, 2004, at Brown Memorial A.M.E. Church, 130 14th St., N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002, Rev. Dr. Henry Y. White, Pastor.
