Besides my devotional readings this morning a chorus of a worship song has been repeating in my mind. The song is called "We Won't be Shaken"
This world has nothing for me
This life is not my own
I know You go before me and I am not alone
This mountain rises higher
The way seems so unclear
But I know that You go with me so I will never fear
I will trust in You
Whatever will come our way
Through fire or pouring rain
No, we won't be shaken
No, we won't be shaken
Whatever tomorrow brings
Together we'll rise and sing
That we won't be shaken
No, we won't be shaken
Oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh
No, we won't be shaken
You know my every longing
You've heard my every prayer
You've held me in my weakness 'cause You are always there
So I'll stand in full surrender
It's Your way and not my own
My mind is set on nothing less
Than You and You alone
I will not be moved, oh
Whatever will come our way
Through fire or pouring rain
No, we won't be shaken
No, we won't be shaken
Whatever tomorrow brings
Together we'll rise and sing
That we won't be shaken
No, we won't be shaken
We will trust in You
That's most of the lyrics to it, for those interested it's by a group called Building 429.
Stability is what most seek in this life. Some semblance of peace. Not even a desire for prosperity, if a peaceful life is attainable. At least that's part of what a study on workers go.
But your whys of doing what you do lead to either peace or struggle.
Blackaby writes: "The Bible makes two things clear about sin. First, living a lifestyle of sin indicates that you are not walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, regardless of what you say about your spiritual condition. You cannot regularly spend time studying and meditating on God's Word, praying and walking in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, and persist in sin.
Second, if you do not hate sin the way God does, then you do not truly know Him. There are those who continue in their sin yet insist that they love God and belong to Him.
This does not mean that you will never sin, but it does mean that you refuse to make sin a lifestyle and you immediately seek forgiveness when you sin (1 John 1:10).
We choose our lifestyle. We choose just how we will live. We decide, from the moment we open our eyes, just how we are going to interact with our day. God put choice in our hands.
Those who choose to live in sin have a significant problem. The significant problem is that they delude themselves into thinking God is hearing their prayers.
The Bible is rather clear that you cannot serve God and anything else.
Trusting in God alone means living that way. Not for show, for real.
Many are trying to find some balance between obedience to God and doing what they want to do.
Read that again.
Many are trying to find some balance between obedience to God and doing what they want to do.
What does Jesus say about what a Disciple is? The leave everything and everyone behind to learn from and become like the Master to whom they have attached themselves to.
Read what Jesus said of half-hearted people. Oh they have to do this first or that first before they can follow.
It shows they aren't serious about obedience.
Peter was given a personal lesson in trust by stepping onto the water. The other 11 were given a visual of what faith was.
We live in a culture that isn't so different from 2,000 years ago. So many philosophies and ways people are creating to justify to a perfect God that they aren't as bad as He says that they are because of sin.
Our lives are a mirror of what we believe.
If anger and outbursts of anger define us, what is the root cause? We aren't living in obedience in some area of our lives. Look. We all are called children of God, who have heard the call and are saved through Christ alone. Look at children. They have anger issues when they don't get their own way. Adults do and have more destructive ways to show it.
Peace comes from a right relationship with God. Not from an absence of stress or anxiety. People who aren't saved can have times of an absence of stress and anxiety. True peace only comes from living as Christ has said.
Again, so many today, so many forming groups to celebrate a sinful lifestyle, shaking their fists at God. Wow. Yet again proving the Bible. They demand to be accepted, and within their demand to be accepted is a very outspoken hatred of those who call what they want sin, just as God calls it. So they persecute the Church because of their not getting their way before a Holy God.
Interesting that is exactly what the Bible says would happen.
Yet the power of the Church is not in its public standpoint or in the services it offers to everyone. The power of the Church is in their relationship with Jesus. It's found in their prayer life. A few timed in the New Testament it was said that Jesus told Simon that his name was now Peter and upon him the Church would be founded. In Revelation it mentions that the gates of Hell wouldn't be able to handle the onslaught of the Church. Look at the beginning of the Church.
Where was Peter? Where were the other foundation stones of the Church?
Praying.
What were they doing? Praying.
They were doing what God's will was and the beginning of the Church happened.
Bricks were coming together from every corner of the world to form the Church.
People heard the Gospel message in their own language and took it back to their country. Prayer did this.
A right relationship begins with prayer. Not special gifts granted by the Spirit, but prayer. Gifts come afterwards.
Prayer is where the Church changes the world.
Prayer is where we find the peace that we lack.
Prayer is where trust is built in Christ.
Prayer is where chains are broken.
Prayer is where lives are healed.
Prayer is where we see that it's not about our lives being accepted for what we want them to be and instead we find what Jesus wants them to be.
Prayer is our most formidable weapon in all things in this world.
Trust and Obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to Trust and Obey.
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