05/29/2018
Are you listening to the voice of Jesus in your life, and in your Church? Do you obey His commandments, and do the will of the Lord? Are you loosely attached to the gospel of Jesus Christ and susceptible to being shaken free of it? If so then redouble your efforts towards Him, and become one in Him because the shaking comes to all.
“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, for our God is a consuming fire.”
Hebrews 12:25-29 ESV
When the Hoover dam was built, and before the first concrete could be poured, men were lowered on ropes, with jack hammers, onto the sheer stone face of the Black Canyon that contained the Colorado River. Suspended high above the river they worked diligently to remove every loose rock from the cliff face. They removed at all that might fall if shaken, and it wasn’t until this was done that those working along the river below would be safe.
Likewise, we are told in Hebrews 12:18-29 that our faith will also be shaken, and everything that isn’t affixed tightly to Christ will be removed. The loose stone will be shaken free from heaven and earth, high, and low, but once complete the building can begin in earnest. Once the walls of our faith have been secured then we can move on, and the cliffs of our belief will be prepared for Jesus to come again.
So every soul, every church, every community of faith, should re-examine itself, and insure that it is firmly adhering to what has been spoken by Jesus, and attached unshakably to His canyon walls, His commandments; lest He shake them away.
But for those who remain unshaken, this is not a time of fear as it was when the commandments were given in stone to Moses upon a breathing and billowing mountain, but rather, a time of great celebration; a festival! This is the culmination of the new covenant that ushers in an age of eternal existence at the table of God.
“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”
Hebrews 12:22-24 ESV
Are you ready for the shaking to commence? Are you clinging precariously to the cliff wall, and on the verge of falling, or solidly attached? Listen to the voice of Jesus, renew your faith, and secure yourself once and for all. Reaffirm your prayer life, praise God, and worship Him with all of your heart, soul, and mind. When the shaking is complete you want to be one of the celebrants, not a shard of rock that was jarred free, and washed away by the swift waters below.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the solid rock of your Son Jesus Christ to which I am fixed, and for the sprinkling of His redemptive Blood that has secured me. Strengthen my faith Holy Father so that in the time of your shaking in heaven and earth, I will be firmly held by your Word, and the blood of Jesus. Let me fear nothing during this tribulation, but cling to Jesus with total assurance of my salvation. Give me rest and comfort in His arms, reassured by His perfect hold upon me. Then, Most Holy Father, when the quaking has subsided, fill my cup to overflowing as I celebrate your eternal glory with all of heaven and earth! Your grace and mercy is enough, and your Son, the evidence of your love. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my strong tower, my unshakable refuge, the nails that secure me to my cross. Great is your name, and unshakable your Son, and Word.
Rich Forbes