Thursday, January 31, 2019
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He was just a teenager and his village had just collapsed all around him. He was one of countless thousands who were affected by a massive earthquake that hit Turkey. In an interview with National Geographic Magazine, this young man offered an amazingly insightful perspective on what he had just witnessed. He said, "I accept this as a geologic event, but it can be taken as a warning. In seconds, billionaires can become penniless. So you must have values you cannot lose." Wow!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Safety When Your World Is Collapsing."
In a sense, we all live in an earthquake zone. There are times when everything in your world is shaken by forces you can't control. It might be one of those times in your life right now. And like that young man in Turkey observed after so much collapsed so quickly, life's quakes remind us how losable things are, how breakable, how vulnerable we are. In fact, "vulnerable" might be a word that describes how you're feeling right now.
Then, I think you'll find from our word for today from the Word of God something pretty encouraging. In Proverbs 18:10, God says, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are safe." Safe; it's a good word. It's hard to feel that when a relationship you've counted on is collapsing all around you, when there are suddenly serious questions about your health or your job or someone you love, or when things or people you've counted on just can't be counted on anymore. But "safe"? That's what the Lord offers you in a relationship with Him. It's what that earthquake victim talked about-something "you cannot lose" he said.
I'll never forget the night one of our Native American team members told her heart-rending story to all the young people of a Native village. Tearfully, she told about a life of violation. She had been raped as a little girl. She'd been sexually abused over a period of years, and she'd been hurt by alcoholic parents. By the time she got to her teenage years, she tried to find some relief from her pain in alcohol and sexual relationships. But those things only added to her despair. But then she told about giving the broken pieces of her life to Jesus Christ and asking Him to be her Savior from her sin. I just about lost it when she concluded this way, "Now that I belong to Jesus, I feel safe for the first time in my life."
When you run into the strong tower of a relationship with Jesus, you finally are safe. He's the relationship you were made for; the anchor you've been looking for in a world where everything else is so losable. You'll never lose Jesus, because His love for you is unconditional. He proved it by blood when He died on the cross to pay for every sin you've ever committed. In God's own words, "God demonstrated His own love for us in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
If you're ready to finally surrender the self-government of your life, then you're ready to start living for the One you were designed to live for. And Jesus is waiting for you with open arms to welcome you into His unlosable love.
If you're not sure you have a relationship with Him and you want to, you've got to tell Him. Maybe in words something like this: "Jesus, I know I was created by you and I was created for You. I've lived pretty much for me. And I know your Bible says that there's a death penalty for hijacking my life from You, and I deserve to pay that. But I believe You loved me so much that You paid for it. You paid for my sin when you died on the cross. Now I know you're alive because You walked out of your grave. And Jesus, today I'm turning my back on running my life. I resign that, and beginning today I put all my trust in You. Jesus, I'm Yours."
Our website is for you in a moment like this. It's a crossroads website. It's called ANewStory.com, and if you go there, there'll be some information there that will encourage you and assure you that you belong to Jesus now.
There's no quake in your life that can pry you from the loving hands of Jesus Christ. When you belong to Him, for the first time in your life, you are really safe.