I know I have written a post similar to this before, but it really hit me today how much I struggle with the need to feel secure. I rely on things and people that God has blessed me with. I don't think there is anything wrong with enjoying what God has given us, but when we stop and think about it, would losing something or someone affect our faith in the One who provides true security?
Hebrews 12: 26-29 says "At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, 'Yet once more I will shake not onlly the earth but also the heavens.' This phrase, 'Yet once more,' indicates the removal of things that are shaken-that is, things that have been made-in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire."
God shakes things up in our lives to show us what is eternal and what isn't. He wants to remind us that He is the only constant.
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
Malachi 3:6 "For I the Lord do not change..."
Our material posessions won't last, people will fail and disappoint us. The only hope we have for finding true security is found in the arms of the One who "will never leave you nor forsake you."
It has been way too long since I have last written! However I am super excited to share what God is teaching me. I have been studying the book of Daniel and through it I am learning so much about the soveriegn God we serve.
Before I can share what's on my heart this morning, I feel the need to give you a little bit of background about what has happened in the book of Daniel to this point in my study. Daniel and three other boys his age were taken from Jerusalem to Babylon to learn the literature and language of the astrologers. Daniel and the others were even given new names to try to encourage them to abandon their beliefs in God and believe in the false Babylonian gods. (Each of their original names had a meaning related to God and the new names were in honor of the false Babylonian gods). However, they remained strong in their faith despite the ungodly culture they were surrounded by.
The portion of scripture I read today was about Daniel interpreting King Nebuchadnezzar's dream. The king had a dream about a statue who's head was made of gold, arms and chest of silver, middle and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of iron and clay. A rock struck the statue and shattered it into pieces. In order to spare his own life, Daniel had to interpret the king's dream. He begged and pleaded God to give him the wisdom and knowledge necessary to interpret the dream. God revealed the dream and it's meaning to Daniel who was then able interpret the dream for the king.
The statue in the king's dream represented the different empires that were to come (each metal a different empire). The rock in the dream represented Christ at His second coming. When Daniel relayed this message to the king he began to worship God and claimed him as "Lord of kings."
The point I am trying to make is that if King Nebuchadnezzar, who had no personal relationship with God responded in worship to the power and might of the One true King, then why are we not living even more in awe of Him? Those of us who do have a relationship with the Lord know even more about His greatness than the king of Babylon and yet we often fail to lead lives characterized by worship. Why is this?
My prayer is that God would help me to worship Him just as I was created to and that He would help me to live in a way that brings Him honor and Glory. On my own I will fail. There is no doubt about it. However, by His grace I am able to trust in Him to provide strength in my weakest moments. We serve a great and powerful God! It's time for us as Christians to start living like we believe this with every fiber of our being.
