Hebrews 12:25-29 25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not when they refused him that warned `them' on earth, much more `shall not' we `escape' who turn away from him that `warneth' from heaven: 26 whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more will I make to tremble not the earth only, but also the heaven. 27 And this `word', Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain. 28 Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe: 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

Seventeen years ago, the United States of America experienced a massive surprise attack by terrorists. Our people were shaken by the realization that the country is not as safe as we once thought.

Of course, it grieved us to learn of the events that occurred and the lives that were tragically lost. But at the same time, the horrible situation led to some positive outcomes. For example, our nation unified and people served with courage and selflessness.

One of the biggest benefits, I believe, was that many of us realized our great dependence upon God. Safety in this world is an illusion. Sadly, the peace and blessings we’ve experienced in America have led to much complacency and self-dependence. Sometimes we need to be shaken out of our forgetfulness and into reliance upon Jesus Christ.

Just listening to the news these days can rattle our sense of well-being. There is always something unsettling taking place. But as believers, we should look at life from a resurrection perspective. We are children of the living God, not people who seek security only in the natural, secular world. Our hope and refuge is firm: Through Jesus Christ, our relationship with the Lord is eternal. Everything else we possess could be destroyed in a moment.

Worldly circumstances—natural disasters, wars, and assorted turmoil—may have an effect on everyone, but they can’t control the believer’s heart. Let your hope rest in Christ alone. Only by finding security in the arms of almighty God can you endure times of uncertainty.

Bible in One Year: Ezekiel 46-48 Chapter 46 1 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened. 2 And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate; and the priests shall prepare his burnt-offering and his peace-offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening. 3 And the people of the land shall worship at the door of that gate before Jehovah on the sabbaths and on the new moons. 4 And the burnt-offering that the prince shall offer unto Jehovah shall be on the sabbath day six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish; 5 and the meal-offering shall be an ephah for the ram, and the meal-offering for the lambs as he is able to give, and a hin of oil to an ephah. 6 And on the day of the new moon it shall be a young bullock without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram; they shall be without blemish: 7 and he shall prepare a meal-offering, an ephah for the bullock, and an ephah for the ram, and for the lambs according as he is able, and a hin of oil to an ephah. 8 And when the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of the gate, and he shall go forth by the way thereof. 9 But when the people of the land shall come before Jehovah in the appointed feasts, he that entereth by the way of the north gate to worship shall go forth by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall go forth straight before him. 10 And the prince, when they go in, shall go in in the midst of them; and when they go forth, they shall go forth `together'. 11 And in the feasts and in the solemnities the meal-offering shall be an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs as he is able to give, and a hin of oil to an ephah. 12 And when the prince shall prepare a freewill-offering, a burnt-offering or peace-offerings as a freewill-offering unto Jehovah, one shall open for him the gate that looketh toward the east; and he shall prepare his burnt-offering and his peace-offerings, as he doth on the sabbath day: then he shall go forth; and after his going forth one shall shut the gate. 13 And thou shalt prepare a lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt-offering unto Jehovah daily: morning by morning shalt thou prepare it. 14 And thou shalt prepare a meal-offering with it morning by morning, the sixth part of an ephah, and the third part of a hin of oil, to moisten the fine flour; a meal-offering unto Jehovah continually by a perpetual ordinance. 15 Thus shall they prepare the lamb, and the meal-offering, and the oil, morning by morning, for a continual burnt-offering. 16 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: If the prince give a gift unto any of his sons, it is his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons; it is their possession by inheritance. 17 But if he give of his inheritance a gift to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty; then it shall return to the prince; but as for his inheritance, it shall be for his sons. 18 Moreover the prince shall not take of the people's inheritance, to thrust them out of their possession; he shall give inheritance to his sons out of his own possession, that my people be not scattered every man from his possession. 19 Then he brought me through the entry, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers for the priests, which looked toward the north: and, behold, there was a place on the hinder part westward. 20 And he said unto me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass-offering and the sin-offering, `and' where they shall bake the meal-offering; that they bring them not forth into the outer court, to sanctify the people. 21 Then he brought me forth into the outer court, and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court; and, behold, in every corner of the court there was a court. 22 In the four corners of the court there were courts inclosed, forty `cubits' long and thirty broad: these four in the corners were of one measure. 23 And there was a wall round about in them, round about the four, and boiling-places were made under the walls round about. 24 Then said he unto me, These are the boiling-houses, where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people. Chapter 47 1 And he brought me back unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward; (for the forefront of the house was toward the east;) and the waters came down from under, from the right side of the house, on the south of the altar. 2 Then he brought me out by the way of the gate northward, and led me round by the way without unto the outer gate, by the way of `the gate' that looketh toward the east; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side. 3 When the man went forth eastward with the line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the ankles. 4 Again he measured a thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and caused me to pass through `the waters', waters that were to the loins. 5 Afterward he measured a thousand; `and it was' a river that I could not pass through; for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. 6 And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen `this'? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the bank of the river. 7 Now when I had returned, behold, upon the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. 8 Then said he unto me, These waters issue forth toward the eastern region, and shall go down into the Arabah; and they shall go toward the sea; into the sea `shall the waters go' which were made to issue forth; and the waters shall be healed. 9 And it shall come to pass, that every living creature which swarmeth, in every place whither the rivers come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish; for these waters are come thither, and `the waters of the sea' shall be healed, and everything shall live whithersoever the river cometh. 10 And it shall come to pass, that fishers shall stand by it: from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim shall be a place for the spreading of nets; their fish shall be after their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. 11 But the miry places thereof, and the marshes thereof, shall not be healed; they shall be given up to salt. 12 And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow every tree for food, whose leaf shall not whither, neither shall the fruit thereof fail: it shall bring forth new fruit every month, because the waters thereof issue out of the sanctuary; and the fruit thereof shall be for food, and the leaf thereof for healing. 13 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: This shall be the border, whereby ye shall divide the land for inheritance according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph `shall have two' portions. 14 And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another; for I sware to give it unto your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance. 15 And this shall be the border of the land: On the north side, from the great sea, by the way of Hethlon, unto the entrance of Zedad; 16 Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazer-hatticon, which is by the border of Hauran. 17 And the border from the sea, shall be Hazar-enon at the border of Damascus; and on the north northward is the border of Hamath. This is the north side. 18 And the east side, between Hauran and Damascus and Gilead, and the land of Israel, shall be the Jordan; from the `north' border unto the east sea shall ye measure. This is the east side. 19 And the south side southward shall be from Tamar as far as the waters of Meriboth-kadesh, to the brook `of Egypt', unto the great sea. This is the south side southward. 20 And the west side shall be the great sea, from the `south' border as far as over against the entrance of Hamath. This is the west side. 21 So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel. 22 And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you and to the strangers that sojourn among you, who shall beget children among you; and they shall be unto you as the home-born among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. 23 And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance, saith the Lord Jehovah. Chapter 48 1 Now these are the names of the tribes: From the north end, beside the way of Hethlon to the entrance of Hamath, Hazar-enan at the border of Damascus, northward beside Hamath, (and they shall have their sides east `and' west,) Dan, one `portion'. 2 And by the border of Dan, from the east side unto the west side, Asher, one `portion'. 3 And by the border of Asher, from the east side even unto the west side, Naphtali, one `portion'. 4 And by the border of Naphtali, from the east side unto the west side, Manasseh, one `portion'. 5 And by the border of Manasseh, from the east side unto the west side, Ephraim, one `portion'. 6 And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even unto the west side, Reuben, one `portion'. 7 And by the border of Reuben, from the east side unto the west side, Judah, one `portion'. 8 And by the border of Judah, from the east side unto the west side, shall be the oblation which ye shall offer, five and twenty thousand `reeds' in breadth, and in length as one of the portions, from the east side unto the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it. 9 The oblation that ye shall offer unto Jehovah shall be five and twenty thousand `reeds' in length, and ten thousand in breadth. 10 And for these, even for the priests, shall be the holy oblation: toward the north five and twenty thousand `in length', and toward the west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south five and twenty thousand in length: and the sanctuary of Jehovah shall be in the midst thereof. 11 `It shall be' for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, that have kept my charge, that went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray. 12 And it shall be unto them an oblation from the oblation of the land, a thing most holy, by the border of the Levites. 13 And answerable unto the border of the priests, the Levites shall have five and twenty thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: all the length shall be five and twenty thousand, and the breadth ten thousand. 14 And they shall sell none of it, nor exchange it, nor shall the first-fruits of the land be alienated; for it is holy unto Jehovah. 15 And the five thousand that are left in the breadth, in front of the five and twenty thousand, shall be for common use, for the city, for dwelling and for suburbs; and the city shall be in the midst thereof. 16 And these shall be the measures thereof: the north side four thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred. 17 And the city shall have suburbs: toward the north two hundred and fifty, and toward the south two hundred and fifty, and toward the east two hundred and fifty, and toward the west two hundred and fifty. 18 And the residue in the length, answerable unto the holy oblation, shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward; and it shall be answerable unto the holy oblation; and the increase thereof shall be for food unto them that labor in the city. 19 And they that labor in the city, out of all the tribes of Israel, shall till it. 20 All the oblation shall be five and twenty thousand by five and twenty thousand: ye shall offer the holy oblation four-square, with the possession of the city. 21 And the residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy oblation and of the possession of the city; in front of the five and twenty thousand of the oblation toward the east border, and westward in front of the five and twenty thousand toward the west border, answerable unto the portions, it shall be for the prince: and the holy oblation and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst thereof. 22 Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince's, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, it shall be for the prince. 23 And as for the rest of the tribes: from the east side unto the west side, Benjamin, one `portion'. 24 And by the border of Benjamin, from the east side unto the west side, Simeon, one `portion'. 25 And by the border of Simeon, from the east side unto the west side, Issachar, one `portion'. 26 And by the border of Issachar, from the east side unto the west side, Zebulun, one `portion'. 27 And by the border of Zebulun, from the east side unto the west side, Gad, one `portion'. 28 And by the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar unto the waters of Meribath-kadesh, to the brook `of Egypt', unto the great sea. 29 This is the land which ye shall divide by lot unto the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their several portions, saith the Lord Jehovah. 30 And these are the egresses of the city: On the north side four thousand and five hundred `reeds' by measure; 31 and the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel, three gates northward: the gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; the gate of Levi, one. 32 And at the east side four thousand and five hundred `reeds', and three gates: even the gate of Joseph, one; the gate of Benjamin, one; the gate of Dan, one. 33 And at the south side four thousand and five hundred `reeds' by measure, and three gates: the gate of Simeon, one; the gate of Issachar, one; the gate of Zebulun, one. 34 At the west side four thousand and five hundred `reeds', with their three gates: the gate of Gad, one; the gate of Asher, one; the gate of Naphtali, one. 35 It shall be eighteen thousand `reeds' round about: and the name of the city from that day shall be, Jehovah is there.