In preparation for this day, our pastor on Sunday gave a great message http://www.cstonemesa.org/sermons.html. As he reflected on MLK Jr.'s birthday and the inauguration of our 44th president, he reminded us that we have a "Changeless Christ in a Changing America". We face a time of great change - we don't know what is in the future. It is a time of great challenge in our nation. He encouraged us to do three things I thought I would share because it helped me a great deal:
1) Resist the temptation to retreat into isolation. Security is not to be found by retreating - this is not reality. There have never really been a "good old days" in our history. There has been sin and toil since the day of Adam and Eve.
2) We can't insulate ourselves from the world. Many will try to insulate themselves with money, family, the home, or find security in these and other things. But we are to rest our hearts on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is there for us, interceding on our behalf, and He will reign forever. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
3) Remember our real source of security - the Word of God. Even leaders die, but God's word does not pass away.
"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.' So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?.' Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them. We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat. The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come." Hebrews 13:5-14
A commentary I was reading was also helpful: "We become content when we realize God's sufficiency for our needs. Though human leaders have much to offer, we must keep our eyes on Christ, our ultimate leader. Unlike any human leaders, he will never change. Christ has been and will be the same forever. In a changing world we can trust our unchanging Lord. "
"Laws can influence conduct, but they cannot change the heart. Lasting change in conduct begins when the Holy Spirit lives in each person. When this happens, we declare our loyalty to Christ above any other loyalty, whatever suffering that might entail. What holds you back from complete loyalty to Jesus Christ?"
"We should not be attached to this world, because all that we are and have here is temporary. Only our relationship with God and our service to him will last. Don't store up your treasures here; store them in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21)."
As he closed his invocation at today's inauguration, Pastor Rick Warren reminded us of this when he said, "And may we never forget that one day, all nations, all people will stand accountable before You.....Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed by Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. AMEN
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