God Is... Our Protector

By Dusty (Reflections on the Life of a Christian)

^{Photo by Colin Brough. Used by permission.}

Throughout scripture, God is described as a fortress and a provider of security and salvation. One of my favorite go to passages in times of trouble references this aspect of who God is:

"Whoever fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge." (Proverbs 14:26 NIV, ©2010)

God loves and protects those who are His children. The word 'fears' above actually means to have a sense of wonder and awe that leads us to follow Him. When we follow God, we are taken into His care, and He will be our shelter and protection from the troubles of this world. That does not mean we will not receive scrapes and bruises. Nor does it mean we will never be harmed.  It does mean that even during the worst battles of our life, we are granted security in God. When everything seems to be falling a part and despair tries to overwhelm us, we are able to experience joy and hope because we know we rest secure in the arms of God.

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Checking For Bombs

By Peter (Rediscovering the Church)

My father once worked in an office which shared a parking lot with an army recruitment office. This was in England, back in the 1980's and, back then, England was going through a rough period where we had frequent terrorist threats and attacks.

Every now and then there would be a credible threat against all military offices and bases and the army guys would come by my Dad's office and nicely tell him that he should check under his car for bombs before going home.

It was all very exciting, but no bombs were ever found. We lived in a far too insignificant town for terrorists to come around our way. The threat was still real though, and the checks were necessary.

As I was reminiscing about those 'good old days' recently I started to really think about how important it is for us to check for hidden bombs. I'm not talking about C4, high explosive devices that will make your car jump three feet in the air like in a movie but rather hidden bombs in that threaten to destroy your life and your relationships.

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