Good Morning Sunshine! Everything Has An Expiration Date, But The Word; The Word Will Remain Forever And Ever!

Matthew 24:35 (KJV) ~ “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

Isaiah 40:8 (KJV) ~ “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”

Here is the revelation that we have been building, God’s Word is eternal. First thing you discovered was that the Word was. Before creation began, before humanity existed, before there were chapters and verses, and before there was a Bible that anyone could hold, the Word was already there. Next you learned that the Word spoke. God revealed Himself through people who heard His voice, received His truth, and carried what heaven had spoken. Then you entered into the wonder of John 1:14 and discovered that the Word became flesh. Jesus Christ stepped into human history as the living revelation of God, full of grace and truth. Today you are arriving at another powerful truth; the Word remains. Everything around you may have an expiration date, but what God has spoken does not.

Jesus makes an extraordinary declaration in Matthew 24:35 when He says, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Think about the weight of those words. Jesus takes two things that appear permanent to you, the heavens above you and the earth beneath you and says even they will pass away. Mountains look permanent. Oceans appear endless. The sun rises with such consistency that we rarely consider the temporary nature of creation. Yet Jesus tells you there is something more enduring than everything your eyes can see, His Word.

Isaiah 40:8 reinforces the same truth: “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” Isaiah gives us a picture to understand. Grass can be green and beautiful in one season and dry in another. Flowers bloom, display their beauty, and eventually fade. Seasons change what you see, but seasons do not change what God has said. The Word does not have a spring when it becomes alive, a summer when it reaches its strength, an autumn when it begins fading, and a winter when it dies. God’s Word does not have seasons of effectiveness. What God spoke remains true in every season.

Psalm 119:89 declares, “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.” I love the word settled. There are things you may still be trying to settle in your mind that heaven has already settled. You may still be debating whether God can be trusted, well I want you to know that Heaven has already settled it. You may still be wondering whether His promises are dependable, Heaven has already settled it. You may still be trying to decide whether circumstances have enough power to cancel what God has spoken, Heaven has already settled it. God’s Word does not need your circumstances to agree with it before it becomes true. It was settled before the circumstances appeared.

This is especially important because you live in a world that is constantly changing. Culture changes. Technology changes. Governments change. Language changes. Trends change. Opinions change. People change their minds. What society celebrates in one generation may be rejected in another. What was considered essential yesterday can become irrelevant tomorrow. Human beings are constantly revising, updating, reconsidering, and replacing things because our knowledge is limited and our understanding continues developing.

God does not have that problem. Numbers 23:19 declares, “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent.” God does not discover new information that causes Him to reconsider what He said. He does not wake up and realize He overlooked something. He does not have to rewrite His truth because another generation arrived. His Word does not become true when people agree with it, nor does it become false when people reject it. The Word remains true because the God who spoke it remains true.

Hebrews 13:8 tells us, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” That means the One who stood behind the Word yesterday stands behind it today and will still stand behind it tomorrow. His character does not expire! His faithfulness does not expire! His holiness does not expire! His mercy does not expire! His sovereignty does not expire! And because the Speaker remains, His Word remains.

This becomes deeply personal because if everything around you has the potential to change, you must be careful about what you make your foundation. You cannot build your entire identity upon people because people can change. You cannot build your peace entirely upon money because finances can change. You cannot build your confidence entirely upon a title because positions can change. You cannot build your security entirely upon relationships because relationships can change. You cannot even build your faith upon how you feel from day to day because feelings can change quickly.

You need something underneath your life that does not move simply because everything around you does. Psalm 119:105 says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” God never promised that you would see the entire road at once. Sometimes His Word gives enough light for the next step. When you cannot see next month, the Word gives light for today. When you cannot understand the entire plan, the Word gives enough truth to keep you moving.

There are seasons when God allows things you thought were permanent to shift so you can discover what was actually holding you up. Sometimes you do not realize how much confidence you placed in a person until that person leaves. You do not realize how much security you placed in a position until the position changes. You do not realize how dependent your peace was upon predictable circumstances until something unexpected happens.

This is why Jesus teaches in Matthew 7:24–25 that the person who hears His sayings and does them is like “a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.” The rain descended, floods came, winds blew, and beat upon the house, but the house did not fall because it was founded upon a rock. Notice that Jesus never said building on the rock would prevent storms. Both wisdom and foolishness eventually encounter rain. The difference is not whether storms come. The difference is what remains when they do.

Standing on God’s Word does not mean you will never cry. It does not mean you will never have questions, become tired, experience disappointment, or need time to process what happened. Faith does not require you to pretend the storm is not real. Faith says, “The storm is real, but so is my foundation.” You may cry and still trust God. You may have questions and still believe. You may be tired and still remain faithful. You may not understand what God is doing and still refuse to abandon what He has said.

Let me tell you a story about the Old Tree in the Storm. There was once a family who lived on a piece of land with an enormous old tree in the yard. The tree had been there longer than anyone in the family could remember. Children had played beneath it, family pictures had been taken beside it, and every spring its branches filled again with leaves. Because the family had seen it standing year after year, they rarely thought about what was happening beneath the ground.

One evening, a violent storm moved through the area. The wind became so strong that branches from younger trees began breaking. Outdoor furniture was scattered across yards, fences leaned under the force of the wind, and rain beat heavily against the windows. The family stood inside watching that old tree bend and move. Its branches were being thrown from side to side, and at moments it looked as though the entire tree might come down.

By morning, the storm had passed. The yard was covered with debris. Several smaller trees had fallen and branches were scattered everywhere, but the old tree was still standing. Someone who understood trees later explained that what the family could see above the ground was only part of the tree’s strength. Over many years, its roots had traveled deep beneath the soil. The storm could shake the branches, remove leaves, and break smaller limbs, but what was happening above the ground could not easily destroy what had been established underneath it.

That is what the Word of God becomes in your life: roots. Jeremiah 17:7–8 says, “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river.” The passage goes on to describe a tree that does not panic when heat comes because its roots are connected to a dependable source. That is the kind of life God wants to build in you.

Every time you spend time in Scripture before the storm arrives, roots are developing. Every time you memorize truth, obey what God has spoken, pray His Word, and allow Scripture to correct your thinking, roots are moving deeper. Then life brings a storm, and people wonder how you are still standing. They can see your tears and the wind hitting your life, but they cannot see everything God established underneath the surface.

When difficulty comes, Psalm 46:1 may rise within you: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” When loneliness tries to convince you that you have been abandoned, Hebrews 13:5 reminds you, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” When fear tells you that what is coming against you will destroy you, Isaiah 54:17 reminds you, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.” When grief tells you that the night will never end, Psalm 30:5 reminds you that “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” When provision becomes uncertain, Psalm 23 rises in your heart: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

Those Scriptures become roots. And suddenly you understand why you are still standing. It was not because the storm was small. It was because your roots were deeper than the storm could reach. Psalm 1:2–3 describes the person whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates upon it day and night as “a tree planted by the rivers of water.” Notice again the imagery of roots, water, stability, and fruitfulness. God does not want you merely visiting His Word occasionally. He wants you planted in it. Visitors leave when conditions become uncomfortable. Planted people remain. Sometimes we treat Scripture like emergency equipment. We leave it untouched until something happens and then suddenly begin searching for a verse to get us through. God certainly meets us in crisis, but He desires something deeper. He wants you storing truth during peaceful seasons so that when difficult seasons arrive, the Word is already inside you.

Psalm 119:11 says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” The psalmist did not merely read the Word; he stored it. Something hidden is kept in a place where it can later be retrieved. There may come a day when you are standing in a hospital hallway, sitting in your car after receiving unexpected news, walking into a difficult meeting, or lying awake at two o’clock in the morning. In those moments, you may not have time to search for a sermon. But the Holy Spirit can reach into what you have stored and bring Scripture back to your remembrance.

That is why the Word must become greater than your emotions. Your feelings matter, and God is not asking you to deny them, but feelings are not always reliable interpreters of truth. You can feel abandoned while God has promised never to leave you. You can feel defeated while God is still working. You can feel forgotten while heaven has never lost sight of you. You can feel as though nothing is happening while God is arranging things you cannot see.

Your emotional weather may change overnight, but God’s Word did not change while you were sleeping. When you wake up discouraged, Psalm 42:11 teaches you how to speak to your own soul: “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God.” The psalmist acknowledged how he felt without allowing his feelings to determine what he believed.

There will also be seasons when what God said and what you see appear to contradict one another. That is one of the hardest places to stand. God gave you a promise, but circumstances seem to be moving in the opposite direction. You prayed, but the situation became more complicated. You obeyed, but the door still closed. You believed it, but the answer did not arrive when you expected. That space between promise and manifestation is where roots grow deeper.

Abraham had to wait for Isaac. Joseph had to carry a dream through a pit, slavery, false accusation, and prison. David was anointed king and then returned to ordinary responsibilities before ever sitting on the throne. Israel carried a promise through the wilderness. The disciples watched Jesus die even though they had believed He was the Messiah. Scripture is filled with people who had to continue trusting God when what they saw did not yet look like what He said. Joshua 21:45 later declares concerning God’s promises to Israel, “There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.” Notice that fulfillment did not always happen immediately, but God’s faithfulness was eventually undeniable.

Isaiah 55:10–11 gives another beautiful picture. God compares His Word to rain and snow coming down from heaven and watering the earth before returning. Then He says, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void.” God’s Word has an assignment. When God sends it, He knows what He intends for it to accomplish. That means you should never mistake silence for absence, delay for defeat, or a difficult chapter for the end of the story.

Think about the disciples after the crucifixion. Jesus had been placed in a tomb. The stone was rolled into place. To human eyes, everything appeared finished. The One who had preached, healed, delivered, and promised resurrection was lying behind a stone. For a moment, circumstances seemed to contradict the Word. But Luke 24:6 records the angelic announcement: “He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee.” Notice the instruction: remember what He said. The resurrection was not God inventing a new plan after the crucifixion. Jesus had already spoken concerning what would happen. When circumstances looked final, the disciples needed to remember the Word. And maybe that is what somebody needs today; you need to remember what He said.

When circumstances look final, remember what He said. When the stone seems too heavy, remember what He said. When Friday feels like defeat and Saturday feels silent, remember what He said. Sunday can still come because the Word remains even when circumstances temporarily appear to contradict it. This is why Hebrews 10:23 tells us, “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised).” Your confidence is not ultimately in your ability to hold everything together. Your confidence is in the faithfulness of the One who made the promise.

Sometimes standing on the Word looks far less dramatic than we imagine. It may simply mean getting up another morning and choosing not to quit. It may mean praying again even though nothing has changed yet. It may mean refusing to become bitter during the wait. It may mean maintaining your integrity when compromise would be easier. It may mean continuing to obey when nobody understands why you are still believing.

Galatians 6:9 reminds us, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” There is a due season attached to faithfulness. Your responsibility is not to manipulate the season. Your responsibility is to remain planted until the season changes. The Word has already outlived things humanity once thought would last forever. Empires rose and fell. Kings lived and died. Generations came and went. Cities were built and destroyed. Yet Scripture continued moving through history. The Word survived persecution, unbelief, criticism, rejection, and every attempt to silence it. Thousands of years later, you are still reading words spoken and written long before you were born.

The Word knows how to survive. And if your life is rooted in what survives, you can survive seasons that try to shake you. Maybe God is changing your definition of stability. Stability does not necessarily mean everything around you stays the same. True stability is knowing that even when everything changes, God remains. Security is not having every answer; it is knowing the One who does. Peace is not the absence of change; it is being anchored to something change cannot remove.

Today, take inventory of what you have been standing on. If your peace has depended entirely upon people, your confidence upon a position, your identity upon a title, your joy upon circumstances, or your faith upon receiving immediate answers, God is inviting you deeper. He is not trying to take security away from you. He is moving your security to something that cannot be taken.

Put your roots into the Word. Read it when things are going well and when things are difficult. Read it when you feel inspired and when you do not. Hide it in your heart. Let it settle your thinking. Let it correct what fear taught you, challenge what culture taught you, heal what disappointment taught you, and replace the lies pain taught you. Then keep standing. One day the storm will pass. The circumstances will change. The season will turn. What felt endless will eventually become part of your testimony. You will look back and realize that the thing that tried to move you did not remain forever, but the Word you were standing on did.

The grass withers and the flower fades. Heaven and earth will pass away. Seasons come and go, people change, circumstances shift, feelings fluctuate, and things we once thought permanent eventually reveal their temporary nature. But Psalm 119:160 declares, “Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.” The Word was true in the beginning. The Word is true in your present. And the Word will still be true when this season is over. The Word remains.

Let’s Pray,

Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, thank You for reminding me that Your Word remains. Thank You that You are not a temporary God making temporary promises. Thank You that what You have spoken is not dependent upon the instability of this world. Generations may change, people may change, circumstances may change, and everything around me may shift, but You remain faithful, and because You remain faithful, Your Word remains trustworthy. Father, forgive me for the times I have built too much of my security upon temporary things. Forgive me for placing greater confidence in people, positions, finances, relationships, opportunities, titles, and predictable circumstances than I have placed in You. Forgive me for allowing something that changed to make me question the God who never changes. Teach me to build my life upon what cannot be removed. Lord, become my foundation again. If I have moved away from Your Word, bring me back. If I have become distracted, bring me back. If culture has influenced me more than Scripture, bring me back. If fear has become louder than truth, bring me back. If disappointment has caused me to question what You said, bring me back. Anchor me again in the truth of Your Word. Father, grow roots in me that storms cannot easily pull up. Give me depth. I do not want a shallow faith that survives only when everything is comfortable. I want the kind of faith Jeremiah described, like a tree planted by waters whose roots reach toward the river. Let me become so rooted in You that when heat comes, I do not stop trusting; when drought comes, I do not stop producing; and when storms come, I do not abandon my foundation. Hide Your Word deeply within my heart. When fear comes, remind me that You are my refuge and strength. When loneliness comes, remind me that You will never leave me nor forsake me. When provision seems uncertain, remind me that the Lord is my Shepherd and I shall not want. When weakness comes, remind me that Your grace is sufficient. When I cannot see the road ahead, remind me that Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Teach me not to allow my feelings to become the final authority over my life. Help me acknowledge my emotions honestly without allowing them to redefine Your truth. When I feel forgotten, remind me that I am remembered. When I feel rejected, remind me that I belong to You. When I feel defeated, remind me that the battle belongs to You. When I feel afraid, remind me that You have not given me the spirit of fear. When I feel uncertain, remind me that You already know the end from the beginning. Father, strengthen me in the places where I am waiting. Sometimes the distance between what You said and what I see feels longer than I expected. Do not allow delay to produce unbelief in me. Do not let waiting make me bitter, and do not let frustration push me into premature decisions. Teach me to stand without forcing, to wait without abandoning faith, to believe when I cannot see, and to remain faithful when I do not have explanations. You are faithful who promised. Where storms have already taken things from me, heal me. If relationships changed, heal me. If opportunities disappeared, heal me. If plans fell apart, heal me. If people I thought would remain did not remain, heal me. If something I thought would last came to an end, heal the disappointment connected to it. But while You are healing me, open my eyes to recognize what did remain. Your grace remained. Your mercy remained. Your presence remained. Your faithfulness remained. Your Word remained. Do not allow storms to make my heart harder. Let them make my roots deeper. Do not allow disappointment to make me cynical about Your goodness. Do not allow unanswered questions to create distance between us. Instead, let hardship drive me deeper into Scripture, uncertainty deeper into prayer, waiting deeper into worship, and pressure deeper into dependence upon You. Renew my mind through Your Word. Correct every thought I have carried that does not agree with what You have spoken. Tear down beliefs about myself that were formed by rejection, disappointment, fear, or pain instead of Your truth. Remove limitations that people placed upon me that You never spoke. Let Your Word rebuild every place where life has distorted the way I see You, myself, and my future. Father, teach me to recognize what is temporary. When something changes, do not let me panic as though You changed. When a door closes, remind me that Your purpose remains. When people leave, remind me that Your presence remains. When plans shift, remind me that Your sovereignty remains. When I cannot control what is happening around me, settle me in the certainty of who You are. Make me like that old tree whose roots traveled deeper than the storm could reach. When people see my branches moving, let my roots remain secure. When they see tears, let faith still be underneath them. When they see me walking through difficulty, let them also see evidence that I am rooted in something greater than what I am facing. Let my stability become a testimony, not a testimony that I never hurt, but that You held me while I hurt; not a testimony that I never cried, but that my tears did not uproot me; not a testimony that storms never came, but that the storm did not have the final word. Lord, when circumstances appear to contradict Your promise, teach me to remember what You said. When I find myself in a Friday season where something appears to have died, remind me that Sunday still belongs to You. When I am standing in the silence of Saturday and cannot see movement, remind me that silence does not mean You have stopped working. Help me remember that resurrection power can be operating where my natural eyes see only a stone. Father, I choose today to build my life upon what remains. People may change, circumstances may change, seasons may change, opportunities may change, and my emotions may change, but Your Word remains. Therefore, anchor me, root me, strengthen me, establish me, and settle me. Let my life be planted so deeply in Your truth that when everything temporary begins moving, I am still standing upon something eternal. The grass withers and the flower fades. Heaven and earth will pass away. But Your Word shall stand forever. I believe it, I receive it, I choose to live by it, and by Your grace, I will remain rooted in it. In the mighty, matchless, faithful, and eternal Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Nugget ~ The storm may shake your branches, but it does not have to uproot your life. Put your roots so deeply into God’s Word that when everything temporary moves, you are still standing on what remains.

Blessings…

Love, Dr. Jean…