Everlasting

Sometimes God gives us a neon billboard.

This past Sunday, I had to give my very good dog, Buddy, back to Jesus.  Buddy was old. He had serious health conditions and much pain.  It was a heartbreaking decision and a time of deep grief for me.  He was ours for a short time, just five years.  Our dogs are the most faithful companions in this life, and it is so difficult to say goodbye when that time comes around.  Dogs are beautiful and wonderful, but their days on this earth are numbered….like ours.

As I tearfully began life without Buddy, I realized that the Lord was purposely leading me to passages in the Bible that highlighted the word “everlasting”.  Everywhere I turned – Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms and the Gospels, God was reminding me of what is eternal, what will never fade away, what will never pass away.

Even in the middle of writing this post, I received word that my dear sister-in-Christ lost her husband this morning to a heart attack, and he slipped into the everlasting arms of Jesus.  How terribly tragic and fragile is this life we live.  Dear Lord, have mercy and compassion even now. 

If you are going through a time where nothing feels stable or secure, where sadness seems to have the last word, where injustice is all around you and hope is difficult…

If you have great loss in this life…

If your faith is slipping away in the midst of storms inside and outside of your home…

Please consider all the ways that our God is with you and will never change.  He will always be there.  Our God and His love is everlasting.

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder.  And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”  Isaiah 9:6

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  John 3:16

“For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.”  Psalm 100:5

“The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”  Genesis 9:16

“(He) alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.”  1st Timothy 6:16

“Trust in the Lord forever, for in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength.”  Isaiah 26.4

“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.”  2nd Thessalonians 2:16

“The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying:  Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.”  Jeremiah 31:3

“…for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”  2nd Peter 1:11

“Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.”  Genesis 21:33

“Lift up your heads, O you gates!  Lift up, your everlasting doors!  And the King of glory shall come in.”  Psalm 24:9

“Who led them by the right hand of Moses, with His glorious arm, dividing the water before them to make for Himself an everlasting name…”  Isaiah 63:12

“When the whirlwind passes by, the wicked is no more, but the righteous has an everlasting foundation.”  Proverbs 10:25

“With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer.”  Isaiah 54:8

“The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms…”  Deuteronomy 33:27

May the Lord bless you and keep you in His everlasting arms throughout this Christmas season.