The Kingdoms Totter

Psalms 46:1-3 ESV

“God is our refuge and strength,

    a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,

    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam,

    though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah”

Life is not always predictable. What we plan to do and what actually takes place may not be the same. Things happen. Plans get altered. People die. People get sick. The government takes some new form of action. People move. People lose their jobs. The economy crashes. A major disaster takes place. We are under attack. People are not prepared. We lack supplies. We don’t know where we are to go next, and the list goes on and on.

But the comforting part in all of this is, if our faith, hope, and trust is truly in Jesus Christ, and we trust in his sovereignty over our lives, and so we trust him with our future and with our circumstances, we can take refuge in our Lord and in his strength and wisdom. For nothing takes him by surprise. Everything that happens in our lives he allows or they could not happen. And whatever we go through, he will take us through it.

So, although I know we will feel fear at times, which is a natural human emotion and response to danger and to things which suddenly come upon us, we don’t have to respond in fear. We can conquer all fear through our faith in Jesus Christ when we turn to him in faith and we give our circumstances over to him, and we pray for his strength and wisdom to see us through it all, every step of the way. So don’t let fear overtake you!

Psalms 46:4-7 ESV

“There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

    the holy habitation of the Most High.

God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;

    God will help her when morning dawns.

The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;

    he utters his voice, the earth melts.

The Lord of hosts is with us;

    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah”

We who believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives are the “city of God.” We are God’s holy people, his holy nation. We are his “holy habitation” because he now lives inside of us. We are now his temple. God dwells within us in the person of the Holy Spirit who is our comforter, our helper, our encourager, and our teacher. He instructs us in the ways of God. And he strengthens and empowers us to walk in the ways of the Lord.

When we put our complete faith and trust in the Lord Jesus, our faith should be so strong that no matter what comes against us it will not move us from our loyalty and devotion to the Lord nor from our dedication to walk in his ways and in his truth. Nothing should shake us from that solid foundation in our Lord Jesus. No enemy attacks. No doubts. No fears. For our God will help us to overcome all fears and all enemy attacks in his power.

“The nations” can be physical nations coming against us, the people of God, or this can be biblical terminology for the ungodly of this world. And the ungodly are not just those who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ. The ungodly are all those who act wickedly, and who deliberately and habitually sin against God and against other humans, usually without conscience, regardless of what faith in Christ they profess with their lips.

And if we consider who Jesus’ greatest opponents were, they were those who professed to believe in the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And that God is Father, Son (Jesus Christ), and Holy Spirit. And yet they persecuted the only begotten Son of God, their promised Messiah, the Christ. So, we should not at all be surprised if our greatest opposition and persecution comes from others professing faith in Jesus Christ.

But Jesus promised us that if we follow him with our lives that we will be opposed by the same people who opposed him, i.e. those who professed to believe in the one true God, and some who were his family members, and surely some who were his neighbors. And the ones who went after him the most were the rulers in influencers and leaders within the temple of God, so it should not surprise us if church leaders and pastors mistreat us, too.

But then we must remember that God is absolutely sovereign over all that he has made, that he is with those of us who are truly his by genuine faith in him, and that he is our fortress. And we need to keep remembering this, for this world of ours is getting crazier and crazier by the day. And so we are going to be up against new challenges here and there, and eventually it is going to get really bad here in America. It is just a matter of when.

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

Blessed Be Your Name

by Matt Redman

In the land that is plentiful 

Where Your streams of abundance flow

When I'm found in the desert place

Though I walk through the wilderness

When the sun's shining down on me

When the world's 'all as it should be'

On the road marked with suffering 

Though there's pain in the offering 

Blessed be the name of the Lord

You give and take away

You give and take away

My heart will choose to say

Lord, blessed be Your name

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw4H5t3TwHM

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