GodReflection: Power Word Wednesday

I always lie when I use the word “always.”

I always eat peach ice cream—well I do eat other flavors.

I always tell the truth. I try to do so but unfortunately untruth—a nice euphemism for a lie—can roll off my tongue to my shame.

I always go to church—well maybe not always.

You always do that—probably not.

I’m always early—except for when I’m late.

Yep, I always lie when I use always.

Well not always—I do get it right when I connect always to the Holy.

I read that God always has mercy on those who love His name (Psalms 119:132).  God’s always is always.

The prophet Isaiah gives a prophetic “God always,” I can take to the bank.

The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail (Isaiah 58:11).

Jeremiah—like me—frequently brings complaints to God of things in life he doesn’t understand.  Even though he didn’t understand God’s sense of justice—the prosperity of the wicked—he does give the Almighty acknowledgement that “You are always righteous” (Jeremiah 12:1).

I like the way John the apostle paints the Divine Always.  “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working” (5:17).

Jesus always does what pleases the Father (8:29). God always hears Jesus (11:42). As my Holy Advocate my prayers to God in the name of the Son to whom God listens adds a sense of confidence that God will hear what I share with Jesus.

The Holy transforms “always” into a power word for my walk. Scriptures tells me as a child of God and a disciple of Jesus that God, Son, and Spirit are always with me. In this case, Scripture confirms what I’ve learned to be true. For it is in their love that I always find protection, trust, hope, and perseverance.

God always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. (2 Corinthians 2:14). God saves me completely because Jesus always lives to intercede for me (Hebrews 7:25).

Ok, I get all of the above. However, it is Paul the last apostle Jesus added to the twelve, who turns always into a power word in my life.

It is not consistency in perfection but rather it is the idea of consistency in focus.

He encourages me to strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man, and always give myself fully to the work of the Lord.

Paul encourages me always to carry around in my body the death of Jesus, so that my body reveals the life of Jesus and that I might live in a manner in which I can always rejoice.

I am to give thanks always to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and I should always keep on praying for all of the Lord’s people.

My conversation is to be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that I may know how to answer everyone. And in so doing, I must make sure that I don’t pay back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for others.

In that light I am to slander no one, rather I am to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.

It would be an overstatement to claim that I always follow the teachings of Jesus and of Paul. However, to uphold “always” as a power word aligned with my intent would be a worthy action don’t you think?

Stay tuned.

Dr. Gary J. Sorrells – A GodReflection on Always as a Word of Power.

Gary@Godreflection.org     www.MakeYourVisionGoViral.com