{"id":25178,"date":"2023-02-01T17:49:51","date_gmt":"2023-02-02T00:49:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/gospel-express\/2023-otherside-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-02-01T18:11:42","modified_gmt":"2023-02-02T01:11:42","slug":"2023-unchaging","status":"publish","type":"portfolio","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/gospel-express\/2023-unchaging\/","title":{"rendered":"Focus on What Is Unchanging"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY RICK WARREN<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up\u2014the flames will not consume you.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Isaiah 43:2 (TLB)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

When everything around you is uncertain, the key to stability is to focus on unchangeable truth. You need to focus on what never changes: God\u2019s Word and God\u2019s character<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Here are some unchangeable truths you need to tell yourself during a time of uncertainty:<\/p>\n

God sees everything you\u2019re going through.\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(Psalm 33:18 NIV).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

God cares about everything you\u2019re going through.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cBut I will watch for the LORD; I will wait confidently for God, who will save me. My God will hear me\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(Micah 7:7 GNT).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

God has the power to change what you\u2019re going through.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cAsk, and you will be given what you ask for. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(Matthew 7:7 TLB).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

God always acts out of his goodness to you.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cAnd we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(Romans 8:28 NIV).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

God\u2019s plan is always better than your plan.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201c\u2018For I know the plans I have for you,\u2019 says the LORD. \u2018They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope\u2019\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(Jeremiah 29:11 NLT).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

God will never stop loving you.\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cFor the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(Isaiah 54:10 NLT).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Once you have put your trust in Jesus Christ, you cannot lose your salvation.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cI know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to safely guard all that I have given him until the day of his return\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(2 Timothy 1:12 TLB).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

No matter what you go through, God is with you.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cWhen you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up\u2014the flames will not consume you\u201d\u00a0<\/em>(Isaiah 43:2 TLB).<\/p>\n

To replace your panic with prayer, your worry with worship, and your anxiety with adoration, focus less on what social media and the news and other people are saying and more on God\u2019s unchanging truth.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":25183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"portfolio_entries":[35],"class_list":["post-25178","portfolio","type-portfolio","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","portfolio_entries-english-writer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/25178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/portfolio"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25178"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/25178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25184,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/25178\/revisions\/25184"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25178"},{"taxonomy":"portfolio_entries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio_entries?post=25178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}