Brown's Daily Word 2-4-09

Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for the way He is our strength and our security. In Him we find our salvation and significance. He is our great and mighty Savior. He has the whole world in His hands. We are so blessed to be loved by Him. In Him we live, move, and have our being. The world that we live in is very unstable, and it is always shifting. Though the world is slipping and sliding away, Jesus is our solid Rock. All other ground is sifting sand.
I like the story told of the jet that was making a transatlantic flight, when suddenly the pilot’s voice came on the intercom, “Those of you on the left side of the plane have probably noticed that one of our engines has failed. Please do not be alarmed. We can still fly on three engines, but we will probably arrive about 15 minutes late.” A few minutes later, the pilot’s calm voice came on again, “Those of you on the right side of the plane are probably aware that a second engine has failed. Please do not be alarmed. We can make it on two engines, though we will probably be at least 30 minutes late now.” A few minutes later the pilot spoke to the passengers again, “It has just come to my attention that a third engine has failed. Please do not be alarmed. We can make it to the airport on only one engine. However, we will arrive approximately 45 minutes late.” One passenger turned to another and said, “Boy, I hope that fourth engine doesn't fail, or we could be up here all night!” A story like that makes a good joke, but if it were really to happen to us, there would be no one laughing. When you are flying, your security literally depends upon the functioning of those engines. Just as a flyer’s sense of security is wrapped up in the proper functioning of those engines, so, too, in life, our sense of security is often dependent upon various factors in our lives. We depend upon our jobs, our bank accounts, our families, our friends, our health, and our position in society. We trust our sense of security to these things. In this lies the problem. God wants us to find our security ultimately in Him. All of these other things are temporary and unreliable, but God is eternal and completely reliable. There is an immature and unspiritual aspect in most or all of us that causes us to neglect to develop our security and trust in God. In our insecurity we tend to rely on many other things. Many times we don't even recognize that we are trusting in these things rather than God. We may fail to realize that things have become our crutch, and even our idol – the god we serve. In many cases, God wants us to release and relinquish dependency upon the false idols of our lives. He may even allow us to lose some of those things in which we have found security in so that we may re-develop our trust in Him. The words from the doctor, “It’s malignant,” just pull the rug right out from under you and send you into a tailspin. Other dreaded words, especially in today’s economy, include receiving pink slips that ultimately say, “Your services are no longer needed.” The loss of a job can bring a flood of insecurity. Still others have experienced the loss of finances - bank accounts have dwindled, IRAs and other investments have disappeared, resulting in foreclosures, evictions, bankruptcy, and fear. So what are we to do in tough times? We ultimately should do the same thing whether the times be good or bad. That is, we should put our trust in the Lord and lean on Him. Our only hope is in Him. "Some trust in chariots, but we trust in the name of the Lord, our God." Leaning is not wrong if we are leaning on the Lord. Deut. 33:27 says, “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Isaiah 41:10 states, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” David wrote in the Psalms, “In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise- in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 56:10-11) Paul wrote, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” (2 Corinthians 1:8-9) Our best game plan is to seek to make the Lord our security from the very beginning – to hold on to God’s hand and never let go. We must not make an idol out of our mate, our children, our parents, or our friends. We must not make an idol out of work or reputation. We must not make an idol out of money or possessions. Our security is not found in any of these things. Our only true security comes from the Lord, who has promised us, “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” Hold on to Him! Let Him give the security that we need!

In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_92Xe2W1IU