This world is not our home and it was so encouraging to hear of these believers living it as fact. She heard last week of other missionaries from America, living in Ukraine who have decided to stay because they believe this verse is true: “ Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become so dear to us” (1 Thessalonians 2:8, NASB). Just one verse among many speaks to this: “… according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Ephesians 1:9).īut until that day, which could be very near or yet in the distance, the words from Isaiah 33:6 remind me, over and over, to ask myself, I s my security and stability resting too heavily on my circumstances? Am I trusting in God today? And am I living not just for myself and my own people but am I giving my life for others?įirst, as much as possible keep up with what God is doing in Ukraine and in surrounding countries … His deeds and wonders that are rarely told on regular news channels.Ī friend of mine who was a missionary to Ukraine years ago still has friends there. And He did say there would be wars and rumors of wars. He is always working toward His grand finale. Everything God does is a part of His grand plan. Yes, this figures in to the grand narrative God is authoring and orchestrating. An unprovoked invasion displacing millions of people and destroying everything within the reach of bombs is uncharted territory for all of us born since World War II.Īs believers in Christ we also have to ask, is this another step on the sure path to the return of Christ? The answer is decisively yes. Since then we’ve known more school shootings, political turmoil, growing racial unrest, a worldwide pandemic, rising crime, and now a war. The first time I wrote about this verse was in 2008 when our country was in the throes of a significant economic downturn. Life-changing events have been happening with increasing regularity and intensity. “And He shall be the stability of our times” Isaiah 33:6 How do we respond to this shock, this unnerving and unraveling of all we depend on for stability and peace?Īs I’ve written many times before the sure word of God says, As Peggy Noonan wrote in The Wall Street Journal on February 26, “Putin has shocked the West. And we wonder about the unthinkable … could this lead to a nuclear confrontation? No one knows what Putin will do next. We also pray for those who don’t know Jesus as Savior … that they would meet Him and respond in faith.Īnd as we watch and feel from afar we wonder: What will tomorrow bring? How will life change, both in Ukraine and around the world. Everything is shifting and unstable.Īs Dennis and I watch the constant reporting every night we are praying daily and often for the believers-for their protection, for God’s provision for their needs, for power and strength. But those remaining in Ukraine now know the opposite the constant sound of bombs and the experience of crumbling walls, falling roofs, and impassible roads … if those who stayed even have access to transportation. See if you can figure it out.Every day I trust the walls and roof of my house to remain stable, the roads on which I drive to remain solid. Speaking of that dastardly devil, it says “One little word will fell him.” One day in church as we were singing it, I realized what that little word was. One of my favorite lines is a simple one. It builds up with dramatic overtones until its grand conclusion. You cannot leave any verse out of this hymn because it is a classic account of the struggle between good and evil, light and darkness, even God and the devil. It always seemed to encourage the believers in the church that I came into as a Christian. It has empowered many Christians who felt themselves to be experiencing great spiritual warfare as well. ![]() It has motivated soldiers going into battles. It is called “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” taken from Psalm 46. But we would do well to think about the words of his most famous hymn. Martin Luther wrote many hymns for the church to sing. ![]() It greatly changed the worship of the Protestants and the people have never stopped singing! But suddenly the common people came alive like the early church singing hymns, psalms and spiritual songs (Col. The chants of the monastic era, which had been almost entirely in Latin, were the only music of the church. One of the great byproducts of the Reformation was that the people started singing.
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