By Grace Unshakable

For a reason probably only known for certain by the author Ian Fleming, the common cocktail of choice by James Bond included an odd request for preparation, that the martini serviced him be "Shaken, not stirred."  Apparently his palate was refined to notice a difference, and he cared enough over the distinction to include detailed instructions in his order instead of leaving it to a professional barkeep.  Whether a drink is shaken or stirred, the reason the drink is mixed is the same:  it is for drinking.

Like a drink, it is possible for people to be shaken and disturbed by what they have seen; people can be stirred by troubling circumstances.  In the end it doesn't matter if we feel shaken or stirred but how we respond to the situation and our feelings.  I used to live in southern California, a part of the world often shaken by small earthquakes.  It was not uncommon for me to hear earthquakes ratting the windows at night and once I heard the house snap like a whip.  Because earthquakes were common and we were as prepared as we could possibly be in case of an emergency, when the house shook I was not shaken in mind.  I am sure if the house had collapsed due to the force of a quake, it would have been a different story.

I was reminded of a passage of scripture where the children of Israel were shaken by an encounter with the living God when He revealed Himself in fire, lightning, thunder and an earthquake on Mt. Sinai.  The people were overwhelmed by the presence of God and shook them to the core.  Needless to say they shook more than a leaf in a hurricane and were far more impacted than rocks dislodged by God's power.  The writer of Hebrews drew the attention of Christians to the quaking Hebrews long ago and how we as believers are being given an unshakable kingdom by faith in Jesus in Hebrews 12:18-29:

"For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, ¹⁹ and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. ²⁰ (For they could not endure what was commanded: "And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow." ²¹ And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.") ²² But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, ²³ to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, ²⁴ to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. ²⁵ See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, ²⁶ whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven." ²⁷ Now this, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸ Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. ²⁹ For our God is a consuming fire." (NKJV)

The LORD who shook the earth when He appeared to the Hebrews on Sinai has promised to surely shake the earth and also heaven.  The earth will shaken by God like a tree is shaken by those who harvest olives to gather them.  Everything that shakes will be removed and will not endure, but all people who are founded on Jesus Christ by faith in Him will not be moved.  We can remain steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the LORD knowing we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, for it will endure forever.  This result of this knowledge and steadfastness ought to result in us having grace, "by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear."  Apart from Christ we are like chaff which the wind stirs up drives away.  It is by the grace of God we can stand, by His grace we will receive an unshakable kingdom, and by grace we can serve God acceptably.  Instead of being shaken when the earth and heavens are shaken, by the grace of God we stand, serve and endure.