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Wednesday, July 24, 2024
"The Unshakable Kingdom"
Note: We
are traveling this week on our way out to family reunions in Arkansas
and Oklahoma. Early this week we have been in Nashville visiting
Brooksyne's sister, Elaine. Today we head out to northwestern Arkansas
for a breakfast gathering Thursday morning at Oark General Store,
the oldest continuous-operation store in Arkansas, established in 1890.
The building has the original floors, walls, and ceiling. Then we
head on to Oklahoma for reunions for both Stephen's and Brooksyne's
families. Unless conditions are just right we probably won't post
another message until we return to Pennsylvania.
Message summary: Today we encourage each reader to keep this perspective: We are receiving this eternal kingdom that cannot be shaken! It's an absolute certainty. So "let us be thankful, and let us worship God acceptably with reverence and awe!"
During our trip we will not be preparing a podcast (due to extra equipment needed for set ups at each hotel and the voice quality is not dependable as well).
“See that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns from heaven. At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only 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” (Hebrews 12:25-28).Anyone following events here in America observe a great shaking in our political system. I have heard it said that reality ultimately consists of two things; that which can be shaken and that which cannot be. All that we see with our physical eyes can be shaken. We see daily the shakings in our own nation and world and most certainly we will see many more.
But the hardest shakings we face are personal. Brooksyne's sister, Elaine, was grief-stricken on Monday morning as she was notified about a deadly accident Sunday evening that killed a 20 year old young lady, Meredith Portillo, she has known since she was just a toddler. Her dad was a co-worker and occasionally brought his two young daughters to work with him.
Meredith was a deputy sherriff working with the law enforcement less than a year at the border in Texas. She and two friends were going out for hamburgers when a 28 year old male driver was driving the wrong way on an interstate and crashed head-on into Meredith's car. She, along with one passenger, were killed as well as the driver who caused the accident. Elaine described her as a very joyful young lady who had so much going for her. What a practically unimaginable shaking this family is going through.
In Monday's message we considered the prescription for worry: seeking first God's Kingdom and righteousness. Today let us consider the aspect of God's unshakable Kingdom expressed in our daily text. The twelfth chapter of Hebrews ends with this powerful, assuring truth. The apostle is writing to encourage faithfulness to God's children who were enduring persecution. Their world was truly being shaken.
And our world is being shaken as well, although sometimes we sense it more than others! It is during such times of instability that we do well to look to Scripture for spiritual understanding and go into intercessory prayer with God. In doing so it will bring needed perspective and restore our hope as we consider our future "kingdom that cannot be shaken".
Our selection begins with these timeless words, “See that you do not refuse Him who is speaking". In the context this is clearly Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel (v.24).
"For if they did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns from heaven". What a powerful warning to all mankind about refusing and rejecting God's gracious offer of salvation.
I heard an interview with a person drastically affected by a tragedy who spoke of how he intentionally sought to hear the voice of God in the midst of it. Candidly speaking, I wonder how intentional I am in listening for the voice of God in the chaos and discord of our world.
The daily Scripture text acknowledges the reality of the shakings of the created order that we all experience in various ways. Consider your life for a few minutes and look back over those periods of severe shaking, whether it was personal, family, a national or worldwide shaking. Though we prefer to live comfortably without brutal, unexpected, or life-altering shakings, they are inevitable.
But Scripture has a comforting future promise in the latter part of the daily text, "We are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken".
We are indeed "receiving" this kingdom and the verb tense is quite significant. Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy kingdom come". Our journey through this life is but a transition to the future Kingdom God has prepared for us. I am convinced that very early in eternity we will recognize just how brief life's journey was, although since it's the only thing we know it seems long and wholly significant. The apostle James wrote, "You do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (James 4:14).
Today we encourage each reader to keep this perspective: We are receiving this eternal kingdom that cannot be shaken! It's an absolute certainty. So "let us be thankful, and let us worship God acceptably with reverence and awe!"
Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer:
Father, help us to seek first Your unshakable kingdom and pray in the
spirit so that we can live in victory even while encircled by conflict,
danger, and evil. Shakings in this life can bring instruction,
correction, and growing faith when we seek spiritual understanding.
Though land, dwellings, and people are destroyed due to the hardness
and evil within the heart of man and due to the natural causes that
destroy, Your kingdom is indestructible. Scripture assures us that we
who believe are receiving this Kingdom that cannot be destroyed, so we
come with thankful hearts and worship You today with holy fear and awe,
for You, our God, are a consuming fire. We pray for those currently
enduring great shakings or who are enduring
loss, grief, and tremendous uncertainty. May we look to You, the
eternal One, for grace to trust You no matter the circumstance, for You
are our strength and hope in the midst of testings as we hold onto the
unshakable kingdom that is promised to those who believe. In Jesus'
name we pray. Amen.
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"On That Day" Watch on YouTube CityAlight
"Gonna Be Alright" Watch on YouTube Ryan Ellis
"Out of Oklahoma" Watch on YouTube Lainey Wilson "You can't take the home out of Oklahoma"
(Click on image to enlarge)
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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version and a variety of other versions.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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