We had an earthquake yesterday morning here in LA. The quake lasted 5 seconds, and it was quite powerful; the building shaking, glass rattling, etc...Afterwards, I checked on my nephew, checked on the building that we manage to see if everything and everyone was ok. People were spooked.
I've felt tremors and minor quakes here before. Living in Cali for 10 years, I've felt the ground tremble but not like this. And if what I felt was only a 4.7, I can only imagine what a 10 is!
But it does make me think. And it makes me turn to scripture.
I've felt tremors and minor quakes here before. Living in Cali for 10 years, I've felt the ground tremble but not like this. And if what I felt was only a 4.7, I can only imagine what a 10 is!
But it does make me think. And it makes me turn to scripture.
Nahum 1:5 - The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it.
The God of the universe, who can call the stars forth by name, has the power to SHAKE the Earth. Sometimes violently. He has the power in 5 seconds flat to shake buildings, monuments, skyscrapers and to upheave the ground you stand on. My God has the power to reduce it all to debris and rubble. And He has the power to shake your SOUL, and reduce you, us, ME, to debris and rubble as well.
There is a natural awe and wonder in an earthquake. I saw it in my neighbors yesterday as they discussed it, I saw it on social media as the masses commented on it. How much more so when He shakes our soul. When our idols, our selves, our ambitions, our selfishness, our pettiness, our SIN is REDUCED TO RUBBLE by the power of God calling us to Him!
So of course I looked it up again (it has been many days since Jr. High and High School), how do we measure the "Magnitude" of an earthquake.
EXCERPT: The Richter magnitudes are based on a logarithmic scale (base 10). What this means is that for each whole number you go up on the Richter scale, the amplitude of the ground motion recorded by a seismograph goes up ten times. Using this scale, a magnitude 5 earthquake would result in ten times the level of ground shaking as a magnitude 4 earthquake (and 32 times as much energy would be released). To give you an idea how these numbers can add up, think of it in terms of the energy released by explosives: a magnitude 1 seismic wave releases as much energy as blowing up 6 ounces of TNT. A magnitude 8 earthquake releases as much energy as detonating 6 million tons of TNT. Pretty impressive, huh? Fortunately, most of the earthquakes that occur each year are magnitude 2.5 or less, too small to be felt by most people.
READ MORE HERE
There is a natural awe and wonder in an earthquake. I saw it in my neighbors yesterday as they discussed it, I saw it on social media as the masses commented on it. How much more so when He shakes our soul. When our idols, our selves, our ambitions, our selfishness, our pettiness, our SIN is REDUCED TO RUBBLE by the power of God calling us to Him!
So of course I looked it up again (it has been many days since Jr. High and High School), how do we measure the "Magnitude" of an earthquake.
EXCERPT: The Richter magnitudes are based on a logarithmic scale (base 10). What this means is that for each whole number you go up on the Richter scale, the amplitude of the ground motion recorded by a seismograph goes up ten times. Using this scale, a magnitude 5 earthquake would result in ten times the level of ground shaking as a magnitude 4 earthquake (and 32 times as much energy would be released). To give you an idea how these numbers can add up, think of it in terms of the energy released by explosives: a magnitude 1 seismic wave releases as much energy as blowing up 6 ounces of TNT. A magnitude 8 earthquake releases as much energy as detonating 6 million tons of TNT. Pretty impressive, huh? Fortunately, most of the earthquakes that occur each year are magnitude 2.5 or less, too small to be felt by most people.
READ MORE HERE
Our God gives us soulshaking magnitudes on the richter scale of 10! The soul shaking power of God, to shake a wicked person's soul and destroy everything in a man's heart that isn't of God. To rebuild and make him new. To make him stand out in the hallways and proclaim the majesty of God to his neighbors, friends, family, strangers.
The soul shaking power of God to reduce ME, a wicked person, to nothing but rubble and ashes, for His glory. The soul shaking power of YHWH to change a hardened heart, to change a sinner to a saint, to change someone who hated God into longing for heaven. The soul shaking power of God to have my once foul mouth sing praises unto Him.
To lay a person who is serving his father the Devil, to complete and utter waste, to call his name from the pits of hell, dust him off, to put on him Heavenly robes and now call him an adopted son/daughter.
We have no choice to fall trembling in awe and fear on our knees recognizing and calling out to the thrice Holy God. And once your soul has quaked and He has reduced you to your knees and you are giving Him honor and praise, we realize we haven't even seen His full power and glory yet.
He will return again in ALL OF HIS GLORY, shaking his creation, causing all men to bow down and worship. How awesomely frightening is that!! Now THAT will be an Earthquake & Soulquake!
Rev. 6:12-14 - When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place
Check out how the Lord has shaken a few of our Doulos's Souls! Read/Watch some testimonies HERE