Psalm 16:8–"I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken."
From time to time in my life I have been shaken. In fact, there have been times that I was shaken, then stirred, then drank, then spit out too. These were times in my life in which, for whatever reason, I felt too weak or unable or scatterbrained to handle the scenario(s) that I was facing. I can speak from experience that in my pre-Christian life, when I hit turbulence, it was prone to shaking me loose from my hinges, unable to keep myself together. Conversely, since coming to Christ I have found that, although life still bombards like a never ending tremor of earthquakes, I am constantly held secure in my Lord and by His unwavering hand stilling my heart and my life.
To this I can only say: Amen! Praise be to God!
My prayer is for those who do not know Christ to find this strength and courage through a sincere relationship with Him. And for those who do know Christ, I pray that we would never forget the security that is found only in His name!
Showing posts with label security. Show all posts
Showing posts with label security. Show all posts
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Isaiah 26:4–Trust in the Lord
Isaiah 26:4–"Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock."
This is as much a promise as it is a commandment. We trust in the Lord because He is an everlasting rock. In other words, we trust in the Lord because of who He is. His is the Lord, the Creator of all the vastness of the universe and yet still personal enough to enter into His creation through His Son, Jesus. It is remarkable to recognize that we can rely upon God because He is, after all, God. This is, it turns out, both amazingly liberating as well as formative to how we would do life. Therefore, let us not forget the great truth of this verse as it strengthens and secures our every day.
This is as much a promise as it is a commandment. We trust in the Lord because He is an everlasting rock. In other words, we trust in the Lord because of who He is. His is the Lord, the Creator of all the vastness of the universe and yet still personal enough to enter into His creation through His Son, Jesus. It is remarkable to recognize that we can rely upon God because He is, after all, God. This is, it turns out, both amazingly liberating as well as formative to how we would do life. Therefore, let us not forget the great truth of this verse as it strengthens and secures our every day.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
The Perfect Heavenly Security System
Across the world, particularly North America, the pursuit of security is a heralded and important virtue. In fact, in America, security is massive industry. But is our pursuit of security at odds with our Christianity? To put it more directly, does God want us to be seeking security apart from faith in Him? The unequivocal answer is: NO. God wants to be our source of security.
At the onset, in needs to be said that security refers to a sense, a feeling, a tenor, or an aura of safety. Thus, when we speak of security we are discussing that which deals with safety, not the reality of safety, but the abstract of safety, the feeling of being safe. The pertinent question to ask then is: what or where or who is the supposed to be believers' security? The answer is God. Plainly and simply, the Holy Lord Almighty is to be our source for security.
There is, then, a direct tie between dependence on the Lord which is worship and our proclivities towards personally ensuring security which is pride and unbelief. The issue, at its root, is an issue of trust: do we trust the Lord to keep us secure? After the trust issue is settled, the conversation the search for security stems from fear, a general fear or uneasiness that we wish to overcome by putting security measures in place. If those security precautions are to protect that which is given from God, we might be taking authority away from the Lord and placing in something that is obviously less-than. Perhaps some questions would serve to challenge our well-tread conceptions of security.
What makes us secure? Where and what is the source of our security? If it stems from physical means or temporal things, are we depending on someone or something other than God? What are we afraid of? If it is not God, is this fear serving God or ourselves? Is our fear outside of God's control? Does the rationality of our fear matter at all in light of God?
The point here is not to be provocative but challenging. These are real and important questions to ask throughout our walk with the Lord. In truth, we should only place our security in Him; He is to be our sole and only source of security in this world. We will rely on Him and Him alone to provide but also to protect. Moreover, any fear we could possibly have should always pale in comparison to the fear of the Lord, as in nothing is more fearful than not depending on God! Let us then depend on the Lord!
At the onset, in needs to be said that security refers to a sense, a feeling, a tenor, or an aura of safety. Thus, when we speak of security we are discussing that which deals with safety, not the reality of safety, but the abstract of safety, the feeling of being safe. The pertinent question to ask then is: what or where or who is the supposed to be believers' security? The answer is God. Plainly and simply, the Holy Lord Almighty is to be our source for security.
There is, then, a direct tie between dependence on the Lord which is worship and our proclivities towards personally ensuring security which is pride and unbelief. The issue, at its root, is an issue of trust: do we trust the Lord to keep us secure? After the trust issue is settled, the conversation the search for security stems from fear, a general fear or uneasiness that we wish to overcome by putting security measures in place. If those security precautions are to protect that which is given from God, we might be taking authority away from the Lord and placing in something that is obviously less-than. Perhaps some questions would serve to challenge our well-tread conceptions of security.
What makes us secure? Where and what is the source of our security? If it stems from physical means or temporal things, are we depending on someone or something other than God? What are we afraid of? If it is not God, is this fear serving God or ourselves? Is our fear outside of God's control? Does the rationality of our fear matter at all in light of God?
The point here is not to be provocative but challenging. These are real and important questions to ask throughout our walk with the Lord. In truth, we should only place our security in Him; He is to be our sole and only source of security in this world. We will rely on Him and Him alone to provide but also to protect. Moreover, any fear we could possibly have should always pale in comparison to the fear of the Lord, as in nothing is more fearful than not depending on God! Let us then depend on the Lord!
Friday, March 2, 2012
Security Sown
A sense of security is huge in a world so restless and unsure. There are countless counterfeit sources of security that vie for our trust: money, houses, military might, people, substances, the list goes on. In reality though, any source of security that is not found in the Lord is faulty and will inevitably fall short of providing true security. In order to overcome deficient sources of security, we need to overcome defective understandings of security.
Security, the state of being secure, is measured in two basic ways. First is the measurement of provision, meaning that security is based on either the ability to garner provision or in the capacity to store provision. This is one of the reasons wealth and prosperity can give people a sense of false security. The security of wealth is false because wealth is fickle and timely. Wealth has a shelf life that extinguishes at death.
God, on the other hand, is the ultimate provider. He provides amply and sufficiently for our corporeal needs (6:19-34). We have no need to want or be anxious for our security is measured in the infinite nature of God. He provides not only for our bodily needs but our spiritual needs as well. This means the Lord that provides provides eternal provisions that see their fruition after the breaking of this mortal coil. This is good news.
The second measurement of security is in its protection from fear. To feel secure is, in essence, to feel no need to be afraid. Again, it can be seen why military forces are referred to by this measurement of security. The irony is that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God, the supreme source of security. Thus our security comes from acknowledging the Lord for who He is. Nothing and no one is more powerful than the omnipotent Holy Lord. Therefore, nothing should ever cause believers to fear because of the sheer power of true security's source.
Lastly, nothing can separate us from the Lord once we are His (Rom. 8:38-39). And He cares for and secures those that remain in Him (Deut. 33:12; Jer. 29:11). Because of this, believers should have no reason to fear no matter the circumstances (Psa. 16:5-8, 23:1-4; Heb. 13:6). Therefore, let us make sure our security in the Lord and in this way be made truly secure. God desires to be our sole source of security. We should then press into the Lord to be our security!
Security, the state of being secure, is measured in two basic ways. First is the measurement of provision, meaning that security is based on either the ability to garner provision or in the capacity to store provision. This is one of the reasons wealth and prosperity can give people a sense of false security. The security of wealth is false because wealth is fickle and timely. Wealth has a shelf life that extinguishes at death.
God, on the other hand, is the ultimate provider. He provides amply and sufficiently for our corporeal needs (6:19-34). We have no need to want or be anxious for our security is measured in the infinite nature of God. He provides not only for our bodily needs but our spiritual needs as well. This means the Lord that provides provides eternal provisions that see their fruition after the breaking of this mortal coil. This is good news.
The second measurement of security is in its protection from fear. To feel secure is, in essence, to feel no need to be afraid. Again, it can be seen why military forces are referred to by this measurement of security. The irony is that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God, the supreme source of security. Thus our security comes from acknowledging the Lord for who He is. Nothing and no one is more powerful than the omnipotent Holy Lord. Therefore, nothing should ever cause believers to fear because of the sheer power of true security's source.
Lastly, nothing can separate us from the Lord once we are His (Rom. 8:38-39). And He cares for and secures those that remain in Him (Deut. 33:12; Jer. 29:11). Because of this, believers should have no reason to fear no matter the circumstances (Psa. 16:5-8, 23:1-4; Heb. 13:6). Therefore, let us make sure our security in the Lord and in this way be made truly secure. God desires to be our sole source of security. We should then press into the Lord to be our security!
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