Things change and then stay the same.

     The opposite can be true as well.  Things stay the same and then they change anyway.  The process by which we move between the two make or break our Christian conscious.  I like change and yet there are parts of my life that I wish to remain the same.  For instance, I once penned this line: "I live my life in a state of positive discontent."  You can almost hear that part of me that loves change and yet is content with where I've been.  There is so much more if we will only let the change go on within us and those around us and then look forward to the next change.  My life is good, has been good, and will be good because of what Christ has done for me.  That's not going to change.  The world has tried to make my life miserable, stagnant and without vision and hope.  When we get "stuck" in life, that's what is happening.  Though it is true that God tells us sometimes to be still and listen, he would rather have us fluid in our representation of his Son to the world around us.  In order for that to take place we must admit that things change and then they stay the same.
     There are over 600 prophecies that need to be fulfilled in order to bring us to the time where we are taken home in the Rapture.  That's change we can count on!  There are over 1,000,000,000 promises of political candidates in any given election year that we cannot count on.  See the difference?  With Christ there is constant change and yet the outcome stays the same...we go home to live with him.  With the politician we have the promise that we will be lied to, misrepresented and ignored right after the last vote has been turned in.  There is the promise of change but everything stays the same.  I know that a lot of the prophecies have been fulfilled and that more are bring fulfilled even as I am typing.  I know that the prophecies are all part of our journey forward into the presence of Christ.  I know that when we get to heaven our only focus will be to worship Christ the King.  What do we do to move forward with the prophecies?  First we have to read the Word and know what is prophesied.  Keeping in mind that our first commandment is to love God and the second is to love our fellow man.  Balance between the change coming and things staying constant (as in ministry focus) we have only one job.  We are to bring the love of Jesus to all.  If we are busy with the demands of the world, not making time for God and succumbing to the habits of the world, we aren't doing what we need to do.
     Being a prophet in the Old Testament was not always a very positive occasion.  Prophets were killed for speaking the word of God.  Prophets were put in jail for speaking the word of God.  People were driven underground in their churches in order to be able to worship together.  Yet, they went forward from the change Jesus brought and continued to bring that change to the world around them.  We have that change as well but also have the challenge of the change in others lives bring them to Christ.  The mandate of the Christian has not changed since Christ's death and resurrection.  The obedience to the change determines the change being passed onto others.  With that in mind, for the Christian, there is a static life.  We are challenged to live the life of Christ everyday, all day, and with everyone.  It's all about choice of whether we love God or not.  It's always a choice that determines if you will choose to die for Christ should the event come...and it will come.  It's always been your choice.