human race, killed off by Artificial Intelligence. Were they just being sensational, trying to create a sense of urgency or is there a real threat? What I know about AI would not even fill a page so I will not comment on the accuracy of their claims.
I am watching this news with interest and some concern, wondering what it will mean for my children’s future, for employment millions of people, and the effect on weapons of war, the lethality of which we humans seem to love to ‘improve’ with all means, including AI.
But this I know for certain. It is critically important to be reminded of the source of our TRUE hope and our REAL security. Followers of Jesus Christ need not allow be overtaken with panicky emotions.
· We need not be sleepless through the night!
· We need not fear the future.
· We can settle ourselves on the Rock of our Salvation, remaining focused on the fact that our God is eternal, as Scripture says, “the Alpha and Omega,” encompassing all things from beginning to end. This surety keeps us steady when the world around shakes.
I love the security that David sings about Psalm 57. He
wrote this song at a time of many troubles. The king of Israel was mentally
unstable and came to believe that young David was a threat, so he mobilized his
special forces to try to kill him. David had no refuge, living the life of
fugitive in caves in the desert, constantly on the move. His circumstances were
fertile soil in which hopelessness might grow, but did he let that happen?
Look at this song.
"They spread a net for my feet— I was bowed down in distress. They dug a pit in my path— but they have fallen into it themselves. (Selah)
While his enemies plotted his destruction, he made his heart quiet. “Steady as she goes,” he whispered and then, looking to God who reigns, he broke into song!
“My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music. Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." (Psalm 57:6-11, NIV)
When he writes about a ‘steadfast’ heart, he is speaking of an active choice to settle himself. He has chosen to look beyond the circumstances of the moment to the Lord’s promises. IF we would know peace, we must make the same choice. “My heart is steadfast, O God!”
We cannot allow our emotions to drag us into despair. We must not let the doubts take control. Instead, we choose to be steady. One of my favorite authors, Eugene Peterson, penned a meditation on the Psalms which he titled – A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. He makes the point that our Christian faith is a series of choices, made each day. We will not sustain hope based on an experience of the Spirit that is a decade old!
· We open the Scripture for a Word for this day.
· We quiet ourselves in contemplative prayer today refusing to let the hurriedness of life to rob us of that renewal found in the Spirit.
· We deal with the challenges of the day, not letting them pile up into apparently insurmountable mountains.
Yes, we go “Steady on!”
Isaiah, God’s preacher to Judah in a time of spiritual
apathy and pending judgment, could have thrown up his hands in disgust, and
retreated from his calling. He did not. He points to the secret of being
faithful.
"You will keep in perfect peace him
whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal." (Isaiah 26:3-4,
NIV)
Is the sky falling? Are tough times ahead? I do not know but I will choose God's
peace. I will choose to live in faith, and I will store my treasure in Heaven. And
I will pray for my faith in Jesus to grow stronger, replacing my natural desire
to find security in some safe place of my making. How about you?
Here is a familiar word from the Word. May the Lord make our
‘truth for the day.’
"Be self-controlled and alert. Your
enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your
brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
And the God of all grace,
who called you to his eternal glory in Christ,
after you have suffered a little while,
will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen." (1 Peter 5:8-11, NIV)
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Video at https://www.youtube.com/@JerScott55
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