Trivia:
Well for all you western movie viewers Wyatt Earp was primarily a law man, though he also along with his brothers were also a saloon owners, gamblers, but primarily were assigned to upholding the law.
Do you know what type of bridge the Golden Gate Bridge is in San Francisco? A cantilever bridge; A suspension bridge; A beam bridge; or an Arch Bridge? Make you guess.
Challenge:
Psalm 46:4-7 "A river brings joy to the city of our God, the sacred home of the Most High. 5 God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed. From the very break of day, God will protect it. 6 The nations are in chaos, and their kingdoms crumble! God's voice thunders, and the earth melts! 7 The Lord of Heaven's Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress."
This passage declares several things that lift up the protection and power that God offers to us as we dwell in the city of our God, Jerusalem.
First in verse 4 it speaks of a river, which most major cities are founded on, however, Jerusalem had a river but it wasn't visible. It was a spring called the Gihon spring which came from the Kidron valley. During King Hezekiah's leadership he had the men of Jerusalem dig a tunnel from the Gihon spring under the city walls into the pool of Siloam. (1.777 feet underground)This made any army unable to lay siege on Jerusalem, for they had available water needed for survival, while the armies outside had no such source of water.
Then in verse 5 it tells of how God is their protector from the very break of day and all through the night. The mighty warrior Sennacherib leader of the powerful Assyrian army was constantly attempting to lay siege on Jerusalem and defeat the nation, however, as the verse says "it cannot be destroyed". This powerful general marched against the city with more than 185,000 fighting men, but the angel of the Lord and His army moved among this army and before the break of day, these 185,000 men were dead.
As verse 6 states, the nations are in chaos, and crumble especially when God's people come before the Lord in surrender, and then in answer to their prayers His voice thunders and the entire earth melts.
Next verse 7 finalizes and reminds us that "The Lord of Heaven's Armies is here among us: the God of Israel is our fortress. When we face overwhelming odds, our action should always be to call upon God's power to protect us, to remember that He is not just with us, but is among (in) us. His Spirit is in us.
We need to do just as Jesus did when He stood by the Pool of Siloam and spoke these words. "If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink and out of his innermost being shall gush forth torrents of living water."
The worldlings who live around us can't understand this, but as we learn to draw to Him and drink of His spring of living water, He not only calms our fears, but He also makes our hearts glad. To live in expectation of just what miraculous works He will do.
This reminds me of a time in Sacramento, CA. we were conducting a regional basketball tournament using four different gyms, because the number of teams competing needed all of these gyms. Just after noon, and our speaker had finished sharing the gospel at all four gyms, a series of railroad cars carrying explosives blew up, and the local authorities declared an emergency and moved people to take up residence in two of the gyms we were using.
We stopped to have everyone eat lunch and huddled to determine what to do next. The tournament was only halfway finished, teams had travelled from Oregon, Washington, and Nevada. So while we were praying the grounds keeping staff offered to open up their outside basketball courts for our use. So we continued on and completed the tournament. We were reminded that day that, "God is our fortress."
Before we had even reserved these gyms God knew all of these events were going to happen and the only gyms that we could reserve would be the ones that housed outside courts.
SO GO WITH GOD for He alone in His love for us knows His plans and provisions for our future. Now today when challenges seem impossible, we must learn to stop, reflect, and surrender to His glorious workings in those times that we face the chaos of our world and "Dwell in that city of our God, the sacred home of the Most High. Where God dwells ... for it cannot be destroyed, ... and He will protect us against the chaos of our surroundings."
Suspension