Devotions with Pastor Blake Owings

James 1:16-17 “So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.”

It’s easy for us to be misled if we try to live life on our own. In fact we are pretty unreliable when it comes to making life choices. Ask yourself, how different are you now than you were 5 years from now? How have your thoughts and interests changed? Is there anything you used to like that you no longer like anymore? Is there something you like now that you used to hate? (If you can’t think of anything, try to find a picture of yourself from your teen years and see if you would ever have that haircut again.) What about people? Are there any friends, family, celebrities, politicians, co-workers, etc. that you have different opinions about? Now ask yourself the same questions but about 2 weeks ago, or even yesterday. I imagine everyone is at least a little different than they used to be because it is our nature to change. Our thoughts and emotions can even change based on how much sunlight there is that day.

So how do we know what is best for us? If we change so frequently and so easily, how can we make decisions for ourselves? Especially “big” decisions that will impact the rest of our lives. Here is the good news. We don’t have to! That's right; we don’t have to make choices on our own! We just have to rely on God because he never changes. Who he is, is not affected by the people around him, or his circumstances. We can have peace in the fact that we know that the things that he gives us are good for us for eternity. The things we do we may eventually regret (like the time I grew my hair out, and thought it was so cool), but the things from God will be good and perfect, yesterday, today, and forever.
​
Who are you letting control your life? Your ever changing self? Or an eternal, consistent God?

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Pastor Blake