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Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Pastoral Pings ~ Timeless Security for Another New Year

          Here is my new definition of security for this first day of the new year: Security is the feeling of a little lamb following right behind the Good Shepherd, hearing his voice, keeping in step with him wherever he is going, and knowing that, in his Shepherd, all is well.

          In other words, security is not a life without lions and bears attacking the flock, or with no giants in the land. Security is that connection with Jesus where we follow him where he leads. It is knowing that, if he leads us to the edge of the Red Sea while Pharaoh’s army is attacking us from the other side, that we are secure for the simple reason that the LORD our God is with us in his pillar of cloud and fire, and we will surely experience his covenantal protection.

          David’s security in dealing with Goliath had nothing to do with assessing the size and prowess of the giant, or the size of the Philistine army, or the weakness and cowardice of his own comrades in arms. The only thing that mattered to him was that you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.[1] Knowing that to be true, David could tell a giant, carrying the only sword between them,

45 You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand.” (I Samuel 17)

          To come to a giant in “the name of the LORD of hosts,” is to have the enemy outnumbered, or outsized, or overpowered, or however we would say it. As Paul would say some thousand years later, If God is for us, who can be against us?”[2]

          So, I begin this year with a reminder of how a child of God feels secure. My security is in walking with God. My security is in being filled up with the Holy Spirit so that I know the mind of Christ about whatever I am facing at any given time. I am secure in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will lead me through all things. And, the more I can share the “unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”[3] with the rest of the body of Christ, the better things will be for all.

          With that in mind, my New Year’s Resolution is: I resolve to devote myself to experiencing and expressing the love of Jesus Christ in relation to everyone I meet this year, irrespective of what they express towards me. I can do all things through him who strengthens me”.[4]

          From my heart,

          Monte

 

© 2014 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)

 



[1] Psalm 23:4
[2] Romans 8:31
[3] Ephesians 4:3
[4] Philippians 4:13

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