"Walking in the power and protection of the 91 psalm"
As I mentioned in my previous blog I would like to share about psalm 91, as I believe that this psalm provides us with some wonderful revelation on how to live in the protection and shelter of God as we walk through life.
Insecurity is without a doubt on the rise in our modern society and we know that if Jesus called His generation wicked and corrupt, how much more is ours. So these are dangerous and tempestuous times in this world but it is important for us as believers to know that we can permanently abide in a place of Divine protection and Peace.
Too many believers simply do not walk in their spiritual inheritance in this life partly because of wrong teaching that is rife with unbelief, that rolls most of our spiritual inheritance over onto the life to come in heaven.
I have discovered that you will face the ire of some people when you teach from God's word in such a way that the responsibility for receiving from God is placed in our hands, but those same individuals will almost never object to teaching in such a way that everything is laid upon God and His sovereignty. For example some believers will say "Well, I believe that God will protect me if it is His will to do so. However if it is His Will for me to die in some tragic accident and go to be with Him, then there is nothing that I can do." But we cannot afford to have this kind of ambiguity if we are going to receive the blessing of walking in the protection of psalm 91. We cannot say "yes I believe that The Lord is my refuge and my fortress, that if I make Him my refuge and habitation then no evil will befall me or plague or disaster come near my dwelling", and then express doubts about whether we have a right to divine protection in our lives always and at all times. For the bible calls that double mindedness.
Of course we have all known of individuals who loved God and died in tragic circumstances, but too often we have read this psalm through the filter of that consciousness and do not not take every word of the promises it contains as true and absolutely "bankable" to all who believe. We are tainted as it were by our unbelief, which hides under the guise of "realism"
So why we may ask do some Christians die young or in tragic circumstances?
I will endeavour in this blog to give you my conviction of what is required of anyone in order to apprehend and walk in the manifestation of these promises, however I certainly would not purport to hold all the answers. The Word of God says that "the secret things belong to the Lord our God but the things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever." There are without doubt those occasions when we would have to place a particular event into the category of a secret thing, not to God but to man.
We may not know until we get to heaven why a certain thing happened. However the things that are revealed do belong to us and to our children. That includes all that God has revealed to us in His exceedingly great and precious promises, which are to be established as yes and as amen in our life's testimony to bring great Glory to God.
There is a great emphasis that the Word of God places upon our faith in believing His Word in order for those promises to be effectual and activated in our lives .
Some sincere Christians sincerely believe that all of the promises of God will sort of automatically fall on their heads rather like ripe apples falling in season off an apple tree into a basket. I believe that the testimony of Gods word would mitigate against this being so.
So having said that by way of an introduction let me share with you some of these exceedingly great and precious promises, from psalm 91.
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High (El Elyon in hebrew) shall abide or restfully remain under the shadow of the Almighty (El Shaddai in hebrew)
I will say of the Lord "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God in whom I will trust.
v4 He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge or actively trust.
v9 Because you have made the Lord who is my refuge, Even the Most High your habitation, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
For he shall give his angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.
They shall lift you up in their hands lest you dash your foot against a stone.
Notice that the first thing that the psalmist mentions concerning his responsibility is that "I will say of the Lord He is my refuge and my fortress; my God in whom I trust "
He does not say "I will think about the Lord, He is my refuge and fortress", or "I believe about the Lord, but " I will say". What we say about Gods word is so vitally important in it bearing fruit in our lives.
In the new testament Paul expounds upon just how important this principle is concerning our salvation. In Romans Ch 10v6 it says "But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, Do not say in your heart."Who will ascend into heaven?"(that is to bring Christ down from above) or, "Who will descend into the abyss"? (that is to bring Christ up from the dead)
But what does it say? "the Word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart (that is the word of faith which we preach or speak), that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
In our coming to Christ we had to both believe something and say something with our confession as well. Notice the order in v 8: it needs to be in our mouths before it gets into our hearts. Notice also that this is called the "word of faith" v8 or "the righteousness of faith" v6 which we speak.
Paul is contrasting the Pharisaical righteousness which is based upon what they do or fail to do, and this righteousness ,which is by faith in Christ Jesus.
In other words what he is clearly establishing here is that this is to be a lifestyle for the believer; one that we began at the first in our salvation and continues throughout this life. And it is that of putting the Word of God in our mouths and keeping it in our hearts and this he describes as the righteousness of faith.
In the parable of the sower it is precisely the same principle; that of being those determined to let Gods word become rooted and established in us.
If we consider Abraham, who is one of the greatest examples of this righteousness of faith for us to follow, what God accomplished in both his life and that of Sarah's was not independent of his faith to believe.
Rom 5 17 says "I have made you a father of many nations in the presence of him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things that do not exist as though they did,
who contrary to hope,in hope believed,so that he became....."
v20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief,but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. and being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was also able to perform.
God's power to quicken Abraham's body and Sarah's womb came after a process where Abraham's faith was perfected and became strong and unwavering. There is a little phrase here that is of massive importance and it is" fully persuaded". Abraham was fully persuaded. The word of promise had become so rooted and grounded down in his heart that he was completely and totally convinced that it was coming to pass.
Many Christians are not fully persuaded when it comes to the promise of God, for it takes putting it in our mouths and in our hearts and in our hearts and in our mouths over and over again, until we believe the promise and an inward knowing and conviction begins to form on the inside of us where we know that we know that we know that this promise is sure and certain to us who believe.When that conviction drops down like an anvil in our hearts nothing is going to dissuade us or take it out.
That is why Abraham could willingly contemplate sacrificing Isaac and burning him to a crisp as a burnt offering , because the bible tells us He believed that God was able to raise him from the dead.
What even from a pile of ashes? Yes absolutely, and that conviction went down so deep that as incredulous as it may seem to some who consider this, He knew that God would do anything that He needed to to fulfill His promise through Issac.
How often have we been robbed of becoming likewise fully persuaded of a promise from God because we don't stay long enough with that promise continuing to believe it and say it and consider it, until faith blossoms in our hearts?
In psalm 91 this principle applies. If we read it bringing to bear upon it our doubt or scepticism because of this or that situation we know about or have heard about then it will be of little value to us. Remember that for every story of someone who did not receive deliverance from danger there is an equal testimony of someone who did.
We must root out our unbelief and determine that these promises of God are going to powerfully work in us who do believe.(1 thess2 :13)
I know of a pastor of a large church in America whose wife is a woman dedicated to prayer, and is experienced in listening to the leading and promptings of the Holy Spirit. Once when her husband was returning from a ministry trip, the plane that he was travelling on got into some difficulties, and as a result lost power in one of the engines . At the time that this was happening his wife ,who knew nothing of this ,was praying in the spirit and had an urgent burden to pray for her husband's deliverance from danger. She stood upon the promises of psalm 91 and as the plane was forced to make a crash landing, though many were injured her husband emerged from that ordeal without a scratch or a bruise.
John G lake the great apostle to south Africa was travelling by car one day when the Holy Spirit spoke to his spirit saying "pull the car over right now ". This command was repeated and when he obeyed, it was but seconds before a large lorry came hurtling around the corner on the wrong side of the road,with a complete brake failure. Had he not obeyed he would have faced a head on collision causing certain death to himself and the other driver. Lake was walking in the protection of psalm 91 and repeatedly received miraculous deliverance from danger because he also was listening to God and obedient to his voice. It was his faith and obedience that activated the power of God's provision, and so it is in the lives if all of Gods children.
Every day I say of the Lord that He is the refuge and the fortress over my family, and recount psalm 91 in His presence. I determine to establish this authority over my life and that of my family, knowing that Jesus is called the faithful high priest over my confession to watch over His word to perform it.
This is not a mere ritual or a trivial thing with me, I am in serious earnest concerning these things and we have seen situations turned around because Jan and I stood our ground on this psalm and refused to let go.
One last point that is important to consider is the importance of our love walk in connection with knowing God's Divine protection over our lives. "Because he has set his love upon me therefore I will deliver him. v 14"
We have set our love upon the Lord because as born again believers God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, and as we walk in that love towards God and in God's love towards others we are keeping ourselves walking in an environment that gives no place for the devil.
There is something about the entering in of strife or unforgiveness that short circuits our faith and provides opportunity for the devil to take an advantage over us.
Remember how Paul was careful to fully forgive any in the sight of God in 2 cor 2 v10 and then expresses the reason for this diligence in v11: lest Satan should take advantage of us for we are not ignorant of his devices.
Similarly in 1 john 5 18 we read that "We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him"
How do we keep ourselves? By abiding and walking in His love.
I would like to end this blog by quoting certain promises from this psalm, which when spoken upon the lips of believers continually bring great peace and rest to the heart.
I will say of the Lord "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God,in him I will trust"
He shall cover you with his feathers And under his wings you shall take refuge;
His truth or faithfulness shall be your shield and your buckler"
Because you have made the Lord your refuge, Even the most high your habitation, No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling"
With long life shall He satisfy you, and show to you His salvation"
Next time you are boarding a plane or embarking upon a journey ,or on the next occasion that you stand praying for your family members pray the words of psalm 91 over your life and their lives, and meditate upon this psalm sufficiently until you are fully persuaded that what the Lord has promised He is also able to perform.
Saturday, 30 January 2010
Friday, 22 January 2010
"Abiding in Gods covenant of peace"
Following on from my previous blog on overcoming fear I also would like to share some thoughts on walking consistently in Gods peace or abiding in the covenant of peace.
When Oral Roberts went home to be with the Lord in Dec of last year a prominent prophetic voice in the USA revealed that his passing from this earth was not a coincidence but a sign that as he died at the age of 91 and as he had lived and walked as a man of faith all his adult life,so his life and passing represented that psalm 91 was going to be crucial for the body of Christ to walk in, as we progress into this new decade .
Many of the challenges and upheaval's that our society is facing cannot rightly be discerned through the prism of natural sight but only by the word of God which must become our template and plumb line in evaluating everything.
Additionally many of the personal challenges that we as Christan's have faced and will undoubtedly face cannot be understood apart from the time frame that we are living in, that is that there are times and seasons set by heaven that affect the activity of the earth.What does this mean for us? It means that we must learn to possess our spiritual possessions as never before.
I was struck recently while rereading the parable of the house that is built upon the rock vs the sand that both categories were those who heard the sayings of Jesus.
In other words it was not to the world on the one hand who had never heard the word of God,and to Christians on the other hand who had but to two groups of people both of whom had heard the sayings of Jesus but only one group had consistently practiced what they heard.
The covenant of peace spoken of in Isaiah 54, is synonymous with the new covenant which is established and made secure for us by the blood of Jesus.
There is a little phrase in the book of Hebrews chap13 v20 which says now may the God of peace Who is the author and giver of peace Who brought again from among the dead our Lord Jesus,that great Shepherd of the sheep,by the blood of the everlasting covenant strengthen you in everything good to do his will.(amp version)
Notice the phrase by the blood of the everlasting covenant .That is a striking phrase,the blood of the everlasting covenant which brought up our lord Jesus from the dead. Wasn't it the almighty power of God that brought up Jesus from the dead? yes it was. What was it about the blood of the everlasting covenant that is attributed with securing his resurrection? what does this phrase blood of the everlasting covenant mean?
The bible speaks in the book of genesis of the blood of Abel crying out to God, for the Lord said to Cain in his conversation with him," The voice of your brothers blood cries out to me from the ground"(genesis 4v10) In other words all of heaven could hear the cry of Abel's blood shed in a violent and hateful death crying out for justice.
This theme is reiterated in the book of revelation in the sixth chapter where john the apostle gains glimpses into heaven and sees the souls of those who have been martyred for their faith and faithful testimony of Jesus Christ and he hears their voices cried out "how long, OLord ,holy and true ,until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on earth".
The implication is very obvious,that their blood requires Gods justice to respond, and justice will be given to them.
Now when the blood of the son of God was poured out unto death it was because he had willing embraced death for one reason to become mankind's substitute. He became the sin bearer ,sickness bearer, curse bearer, suffering bearer, anguish bearer and torment bearer for us ,so the cross is a revelation of a great exchange. He took all of the above to freely offer to us his life and righteousness and health and peace and eternal presence ,to offer to us himself. When Jesus died the bible says that he tasted death for everyone. But the bible also says that it was impossible for death to hold him .He died as our substitute having been made sin with our sin, however he died completely innocent as to never once having committed sin. So if the blood of Abel and of the righteous martyrs cries out for Gods response how much more the sinless blood of Jesus the innocent lamb?
The word of God declares in Heb12v24 that Jesus blood now speaks better things that that of Abel's.What is it that Jesus blood speaks and what is it that demanded that Jesus be loosed from the captivity to death? Simply this, that when Jesus gave up his spirit on the cross and Gods perfect justice was satisfied his blood cried out that the sinless spotless son of the living God had satisfied the perfect claims of Gods eternal justice and now death and sin were forever destroyed and rendered powerless over Christ and all who would believe in his offering of himself for them.
But the blood of Jesus still speaks and is speaking in the present tense.For the bible tells us also that it was necessary for the vessels of worship in moses tabernacle to be cleansed by the blood of animal sacrifices but the heavenly things with better sacrifices than these Heb .In other words that in the spirit world Jesus evidently carried his own blood into heaven itself and sprinkled it on the vessels of heavenly worship where it speaks day and night and night and day and testifies that those who have put their hope on Christ have been eternally redeemed.
Just think for a second and try to imagine the scenario that every time that the heavenly father thinks about the body of Christ he sees us with that sprinkled blood of Christ on the heavenly mercy seat, and the eternal witness of that blood is ever before his face and has hold upon his heart and affects every thought and inclination of his heart and soul towards us, and speaks of
Gods eternal love, His reconcilation and of His peace towards men.The blood of the everlasting covenant is massive to God and it should be to us also.And it is that blood that is the foundation of our covenant of peace.
The 54 chapter of Isa says the following " For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed,But my kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall the covenant of my peace be removed Says the Lord who has mercy upon you." This is much more then a mere token of Gods peace, it is a covenant of peace. We must learn how to skillfully walk in it.
Sadly too many Christians live as those who are harassed, stressed ,tense, fearful and worried much of the time. I know because I have lived like this myself for to long but thank God, last year I drew a line and have committed to walking in all that the heavenly Father has provided for me and my family,and the peace of God has returned to its place of ruling my heart and mind again.Thank God.
We must do more than theorize these truths,we must embrace and believe them with bulldog tenacity ,otherwise we are being robbed of a great blessing in our own lives and of a powerful witness to the world which has no peace that we are walking in fellowship with the living God who is the God of peace.
It is fascinating to me that the word for peace in the Hebrew is shalom,and like many Hebrews words carries with it a whole concept of a manner of life in order to define it accurately.The best sense of what shalom means is "completeness, wholeness or wellness of being, nothing missing nothing lacking and nothing broken". Consequently when we speak of the God of peace being with you, or the God of peace sanctifying you wholly, we are saying far more then may you have an absence of anxious thoughts. It certainly would include that. But in reality we are saying may the God of all shalom, all completeness and wholeness and wellness of being bestow on you and increase in your life his wholeness and wellness and peace so that there may be nothing missing and nothing lacking and nothing broken within. Of course the Jewish people would typically use the word shalom as a form of greeting and a blessing when meeting one another,and still do,as they understand all of its connotations.
So why do so many people in the church walk in a manner inconsistent with this covenant of peace? We know that Jesus bled and died to give us permanent access to this covenant of peace, and that in john14 v27 he said" Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.......do not let your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid" So he has purchased for us this peace given it to us as a gift to be received and declared that it is left with us in this earth for us to walk in and enjoy(some people I think only imagine that this quality of peace is to be enjoyed in heaven but then he would not have left it for us in this world)
Like any gift it has to be received and cherished in order for us to benefit from it. Notice that Jesus said that we are not to let our hearts be troubled or fearful so evidently that is something that we can make a choice about. It is our responsibility. And that is where most of us have failed when we have failed,we either choose to do what God tells us in his word or we choose to hold onto our fears and worries, the ball is very much in our hands so to speak.
Philipians chpt 4 v6 tells us exactly how to accomplish this, we start by making a choice before God not to have anxiety or worry about anything. Does that sound unreasonable? If it does it just serves to prove that our minds need to be submitted to the word of God and renewed to what he has told us to do.
Where ever we are anxious or worried we make a choice every time and in every way and in everything to lay that matter before God in prayer and deliberately roll the care and anxiety of that concern onto the Lord.Then we draw a line and refuse to touch that again in our thought life. And believe me it shall come knocking again upon the door of our thoughts wanting our urgent attention. But we refuse it and say" no that's already been dealt with I have rolled the care of that onto the Lord and I refuse to take it back again" And if we do find ourselves thinking about and worrying about that issue then we simply repent and roll the care again onto the Lord and take our stand again. The promise is that as we do so the peace of God will mount garrison over and guard our hearts and minds in Christ (amp version)
Someone may say "well I tried that and it didn't work." Did you attach thanksgiving to your prayer when you laid that issue before God? It says in phip 4 to present our prayer requests with thanksgiving. Be precise if you want precise results. Imagine a scientist conducting an experiment with a slipshod attitude,leaving out certain elements in the precise formula? Would he expect the desired results. So to when we roll our cares deliberately onto the Lord and lay that issue in prayer before Him and do so with a prayer of thanksgiving peace is on its way!
Following on from my previous blog on overcoming fear I also would like to share some thoughts on walking consistently in Gods peace or abiding in the covenant of peace.
When Oral Roberts went home to be with the Lord in Dec of last year a prominent prophetic voice in the USA revealed that his passing from this earth was not a coincidence but a sign that as he died at the age of 91 and as he had lived and walked as a man of faith all his adult life,so his life and passing represented that psalm 91 was going to be crucial for the body of Christ to walk in, as we progress into this new decade .
Many of the challenges and upheaval's that our society is facing cannot rightly be discerned through the prism of natural sight but only by the word of God which must become our template and plumb line in evaluating everything.
Additionally many of the personal challenges that we as Christan's have faced and will undoubtedly face cannot be understood apart from the time frame that we are living in, that is that there are times and seasons set by heaven that affect the activity of the earth.What does this mean for us? It means that we must learn to possess our spiritual possessions as never before.
I was struck recently while rereading the parable of the house that is built upon the rock vs the sand that both categories were those who heard the sayings of Jesus.
In other words it was not to the world on the one hand who had never heard the word of God,and to Christians on the other hand who had but to two groups of people both of whom had heard the sayings of Jesus but only one group had consistently practiced what they heard.
The covenant of peace spoken of in Isaiah 54, is synonymous with the new covenant which is established and made secure for us by the blood of Jesus.
There is a little phrase in the book of Hebrews chap13 v20 which says now may the God of peace Who is the author and giver of peace Who brought again from among the dead our Lord Jesus,that great Shepherd of the sheep,by the blood of the everlasting covenant strengthen you in everything good to do his will.(amp version)
Notice the phrase by the blood of the everlasting covenant .That is a striking phrase,the blood of the everlasting covenant which brought up our lord Jesus from the dead. Wasn't it the almighty power of God that brought up Jesus from the dead? yes it was. What was it about the blood of the everlasting covenant that is attributed with securing his resurrection? what does this phrase blood of the everlasting covenant mean?
The bible speaks in the book of genesis of the blood of Abel crying out to God, for the Lord said to Cain in his conversation with him," The voice of your brothers blood cries out to me from the ground"(genesis 4v10) In other words all of heaven could hear the cry of Abel's blood shed in a violent and hateful death crying out for justice.
This theme is reiterated in the book of revelation in the sixth chapter where john the apostle gains glimpses into heaven and sees the souls of those who have been martyred for their faith and faithful testimony of Jesus Christ and he hears their voices cried out "how long, OLord ,holy and true ,until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on earth".
The implication is very obvious,that their blood requires Gods justice to respond, and justice will be given to them.
Now when the blood of the son of God was poured out unto death it was because he had willing embraced death for one reason to become mankind's substitute. He became the sin bearer ,sickness bearer, curse bearer, suffering bearer, anguish bearer and torment bearer for us ,so the cross is a revelation of a great exchange. He took all of the above to freely offer to us his life and righteousness and health and peace and eternal presence ,to offer to us himself. When Jesus died the bible says that he tasted death for everyone. But the bible also says that it was impossible for death to hold him .He died as our substitute having been made sin with our sin, however he died completely innocent as to never once having committed sin. So if the blood of Abel and of the righteous martyrs cries out for Gods response how much more the sinless blood of Jesus the innocent lamb?
The word of God declares in Heb12v24 that Jesus blood now speaks better things that that of Abel's.What is it that Jesus blood speaks and what is it that demanded that Jesus be loosed from the captivity to death? Simply this, that when Jesus gave up his spirit on the cross and Gods perfect justice was satisfied his blood cried out that the sinless spotless son of the living God had satisfied the perfect claims of Gods eternal justice and now death and sin were forever destroyed and rendered powerless over Christ and all who would believe in his offering of himself for them.
But the blood of Jesus still speaks and is speaking in the present tense.For the bible tells us also that it was necessary for the vessels of worship in moses tabernacle to be cleansed by the blood of animal sacrifices but the heavenly things with better sacrifices than these Heb .In other words that in the spirit world Jesus evidently carried his own blood into heaven itself and sprinkled it on the vessels of heavenly worship where it speaks day and night and night and day and testifies that those who have put their hope on Christ have been eternally redeemed.
Just think for a second and try to imagine the scenario that every time that the heavenly father thinks about the body of Christ he sees us with that sprinkled blood of Christ on the heavenly mercy seat, and the eternal witness of that blood is ever before his face and has hold upon his heart and affects every thought and inclination of his heart and soul towards us, and speaks of
Gods eternal love, His reconcilation and of His peace towards men.The blood of the everlasting covenant is massive to God and it should be to us also.And it is that blood that is the foundation of our covenant of peace.
The 54 chapter of Isa says the following " For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed,But my kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall the covenant of my peace be removed Says the Lord who has mercy upon you." This is much more then a mere token of Gods peace, it is a covenant of peace. We must learn how to skillfully walk in it.
Sadly too many Christians live as those who are harassed, stressed ,tense, fearful and worried much of the time. I know because I have lived like this myself for to long but thank God, last year I drew a line and have committed to walking in all that the heavenly Father has provided for me and my family,and the peace of God has returned to its place of ruling my heart and mind again.Thank God.
We must do more than theorize these truths,we must embrace and believe them with bulldog tenacity ,otherwise we are being robbed of a great blessing in our own lives and of a powerful witness to the world which has no peace that we are walking in fellowship with the living God who is the God of peace.
It is fascinating to me that the word for peace in the Hebrew is shalom,and like many Hebrews words carries with it a whole concept of a manner of life in order to define it accurately.The best sense of what shalom means is "completeness, wholeness or wellness of being, nothing missing nothing lacking and nothing broken". Consequently when we speak of the God of peace being with you, or the God of peace sanctifying you wholly, we are saying far more then may you have an absence of anxious thoughts. It certainly would include that. But in reality we are saying may the God of all shalom, all completeness and wholeness and wellness of being bestow on you and increase in your life his wholeness and wellness and peace so that there may be nothing missing and nothing lacking and nothing broken within. Of course the Jewish people would typically use the word shalom as a form of greeting and a blessing when meeting one another,and still do,as they understand all of its connotations.
So why do so many people in the church walk in a manner inconsistent with this covenant of peace? We know that Jesus bled and died to give us permanent access to this covenant of peace, and that in john14 v27 he said" Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.......do not let your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid" So he has purchased for us this peace given it to us as a gift to be received and declared that it is left with us in this earth for us to walk in and enjoy(some people I think only imagine that this quality of peace is to be enjoyed in heaven but then he would not have left it for us in this world)
Like any gift it has to be received and cherished in order for us to benefit from it. Notice that Jesus said that we are not to let our hearts be troubled or fearful so evidently that is something that we can make a choice about. It is our responsibility. And that is where most of us have failed when we have failed,we either choose to do what God tells us in his word or we choose to hold onto our fears and worries, the ball is very much in our hands so to speak.
Philipians chpt 4 v6 tells us exactly how to accomplish this, we start by making a choice before God not to have anxiety or worry about anything. Does that sound unreasonable? If it does it just serves to prove that our minds need to be submitted to the word of God and renewed to what he has told us to do.
Where ever we are anxious or worried we make a choice every time and in every way and in everything to lay that matter before God in prayer and deliberately roll the care and anxiety of that concern onto the Lord.Then we draw a line and refuse to touch that again in our thought life. And believe me it shall come knocking again upon the door of our thoughts wanting our urgent attention. But we refuse it and say" no that's already been dealt with I have rolled the care of that onto the Lord and I refuse to take it back again" And if we do find ourselves thinking about and worrying about that issue then we simply repent and roll the care again onto the Lord and take our stand again. The promise is that as we do so the peace of God will mount garrison over and guard our hearts and minds in Christ (amp version)
Someone may say "well I tried that and it didn't work." Did you attach thanksgiving to your prayer when you laid that issue before God? It says in phip 4 to present our prayer requests with thanksgiving. Be precise if you want precise results. Imagine a scientist conducting an experiment with a slipshod attitude,leaving out certain elements in the precise formula? Would he expect the desired results. So to when we roll our cares deliberately onto the Lord and lay that issue in prayer before Him and do so with a prayer of thanksgiving peace is on its way!
As a final thought there is one further element that I have discovered is of vital importance to abiding in the covenant of peace,and that is in our having a strong sense of our righteousness before God.
The bible says that their is no peace for the wicked, but for those who are righteous before God the opposite is true. If you have made the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of your life then you are not only righteous before God but you have also been made the very righteousness of God in Christ 2corn 5,21 It is so essential that this truth becomes more than something theoretical or only theological to us rather we must become established in it, for to the believer their idenity is now defined only by Jesus Christ not by adams transgression and sin. The work of God in Christ and the application of that work of grace in our lives is infinately more powerful then satans work in adam in sin and the fall.
We as christians have received the gift of Gods righteousness that now defines who we are in the sight and in the presence of God. Is that who we are in our own sight? It is no surprise that it romans 5 it says Having been justified by faith (and the same word translated as justified here is the word for righteousness) we have peace with God...
We could translate this as easily having been made righteous or declared righteous by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have entered this covenant of peace because God has given to us the gift of His righteousness and the abundence of His grace.
Let us never lose sight of these things .I believe that walking in this covenant of peace is going to become essentiall for where we are going in these next few years.I for one am determined to walk in the light of every heavenly provision that my heavenly Father has made for me .And to walk in these things to the uttermost of my faith and spiritual hunger.My prayer for my friends and family is that they also would do the same.May you be blessed in 2010 more than ever before.
Friday, 15 January 2010
"Overcoming fear in our lives"
This is my first ever blog so I have moved officially into the 21 century communication. In this first blog I want to post up a message that the Lord has very much laid upon my heart. However I believe that it has a wider relevance to the body of Christ particularly at this time that we are in. My intention is to share three messages that I strongly believe are important to the church in this hour ,not withstanding that firstly and fore mostly they have been relevant to my own life as never before! The first message is called overcoming fear, the second walking in Gods covenant of peace and thirdly the power of living in psalm 91. However I would also like to post up a testimony of how the Lord has been leading jan and I in a new direction and to hopefully give to those of our friends who are interested a little more clarity and detail to the process that we have been walking through. I would like to journal some personal thoughts and accounts as well as to publish teachings, however I have been desirous to share these messages for 2010 with the prayer that the Lord would speak to you thorough them, and that those who read them may be strengthened and edified.
I believe that 2010 promises to be a hugely significant year .People will be realigned in Gods purposes,others will be restored from a Luke warm condition spiritually, so as they can run in the perfect will of God for their lives. Their is a shaking going on at an accelerated level so as believers we should not be surprised at what we see in the world right now,for this is the prelude to the release of the kingdom of God in greater power.
Over the last several months I have been reminded by the Lord of the urgency of taking a stand against fear in every form that it takes. The bible says that God has not given to us a spirit of fear but one of power and of love and of a sound mind(2 tim 1 v7) It also tells us that we have not been given a spirit that makes us a slave again to fear but we have received a spirit of adoption that cries out abba Father the Spirit of God bearing witness with our own spirits that we are the children of God(rom8,v15,16)
We must learn to divide and to distinguish between that which is of the soul and that which is of the spirit in our lives if we are walk in victory over fear .It is noteworthy how relatively few Christians have been taught to do this. There was even a highly visible evangelist who was once asked what the difference is between the soul and the spirit. He look slightly bemused and responded "I did not think that there was a difference"
Why is it so essential to distinguish between the spirit and the soul in overcoming fear? Because you and I can never fight fear and win by relying upon mental disciplines or will power only. Neither can we fight thoughts with other thoughts. We can only overcome fear by the word of God.
Fear you see is essentially a spiritual reality and has to be resisted in the spirit. What do I mean by that? Fear is one of Satan's choicest weapons to torment and intimidate the faith of a child of God.It is an evil spirit,it may be imperceptible to the natural eye but it is tangible. It can charge the atmosphere of a room,assail a soul to buffet it, and seek to tear out peace from the human heart,but thank God in Christ we have authority to drive out and keep out all fear from our lives. hallelujah!
I said that I believe that it is essential that we distinguish between that which is of the soul and that which is of the spirit in our lives and Hebrews chapter 4 v12 to 14 tells us how this is accomplished.
The word of God is living and powerfull or active sharper then any two edged sword piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit.So it is as we meditate upon Gods word that that work of separation is taking place in our lives. Remember that the Hebrew word for meditate is to mutter which indicates a vocal element being involved. Many people believe in silent meditation but that is often feeding the soul more than the spirit .By contrast the bible speaks of a muttering meditation,or as God said to Joshua "this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth,but you shall meditate on it day and night."josh 1,v8 Notice that the speaking was con joined to the meditating. I have learned several passages from the scripture that I can quote verbatim yet I have never attempted to memorize any of them. I simply repeated them out loud again and again and again until they got down into my heart,into my spirit where now they come out without my thinking.
I believe that some people worry about their memory or lack of, but if we would concentrate upon getting Gods word into our hearts then we would not need to try to think of the text because it would come naturally and spontaneously flowing out from within..Prov 4,20-22 speaks of giving attention to God word and keeping it in the centre of your heart.In the old testament the word heart was used synonymously with spirit. When people talk about the heart of the matter they mean of course the central issue or issues. Like wise when we speak of the heart of a tree we mean its core or centre. So when the bible speaks of the heart of man it is speaking of his core of his inwards parts or spirit. It is here that we inwardly feed upon Gods words and from here that faith in God is produced.
John wesley once said that the devil has counterfeited mental assent for true heart faith. It is in our spirits that we believe.Remember that jesus said in mark 11 22,24 that whoever says to this mountain be removed and be cast into the sea and shall not doubt in his heart but believes......
So faith is of the heart not essentially of the head.
Does this mean that our minds are unimportant to the Lord? Certainly not but what it means is that our minds need to be renewed by the word of God,and that the word of God is to be grafted into our souls. This is a work of cleansing and renewing and sanctification so that our minds can be used to the glory of God. After all jesus said that we are to love the Lord our God with all of our hearts and all of our souls and minds and all of our strenght,in other words with the totality of our being. But we do not look to our minds to give us mountain moving faith.That comes from the heart.
I have sat with men who had highly developed their minds and who gave great weight to the importance of "good biblical exegesis"yet I have seen in those circles a barrenness and a lack of the power of God or the presence of God. If all we seek to give priority too is the carefulness of our biblical expositions than we end up serving God primarily in our minds. Similarly I have seen great men of God who had little formal training or education,yet who possessed great faith in their hearts,a dauntless faith a mountain moving faith,and they raised up great works for God .I have learned that the quality of ones heart of our spirit before God is the most important thing.
Last year I experienced a test during which I had to overcome fear to a degree that I had to learn these things very rapidly and the things which I am sharing here are what got me out and gave me complete victory. At one point the oppression that came on me was so severe that my whole body shook uncontrollably. But when I learned to rise up in my spirit and to say "in the name of Jesus I command this spirit of fear to leave me,"I became free .Then as I began to feed my heart upon the word of God again and my spirit became stronger to rise up quickly when any fear would seek to subtly assail me, and to use the name of Jesus and the word of God to stand steadfastly against it,I have been walking free from fear .If you and I treat fear as something natural and normal than we will accommodate it,however if we see it as a deadly foe sent to rob us of our spiritual joy and peace than we can resist it every time.
Some people do not consider that they have a major problem with fear however they tolerate fears at a certain level a lot of the time.This can be just as destructive .Others believe that a little fear is healthy. Well then the bible would not command us not to fear. Yet others may point to Paul's words in 2 corn 7 v5where he spoke of having fears within. Does this not prove that he had fear they say? Billy Graham was once asked if he was ever tempted to doubt,yes he replied but I know what to do with the doubt when it comes . Paul was simply proving his humanness,but he also knew what to do with his fears . For he also wrote that we should not fret or be anxious for anything.He also wrote to timothy that God had not given him a spirit of fear .And he also wrote to the church at Rome that we are no more in bondage to fear .Now the apostle Paul practiced what he preached,and learned it no doubt as we all must in the nitty gritty of lifes challenges as he applied the truth which God had given him and walked in the light of it.
I believe that we must draw a line so to speak and declare a zero tolerance policy on all fear in our lives for God has given to us a covenant of his peace (isa54,10)and intends for us to abide in this all the days of our lives upon this earth.And how do we do this? by faith.
Every blessing to you all for 2010 and know that something good is going to happen to you in it.
This is my first ever blog so I have moved officially into the 21 century communication. In this first blog I want to post up a message that the Lord has very much laid upon my heart. However I believe that it has a wider relevance to the body of Christ particularly at this time that we are in. My intention is to share three messages that I strongly believe are important to the church in this hour ,not withstanding that firstly and fore mostly they have been relevant to my own life as never before! The first message is called overcoming fear, the second walking in Gods covenant of peace and thirdly the power of living in psalm 91. However I would also like to post up a testimony of how the Lord has been leading jan and I in a new direction and to hopefully give to those of our friends who are interested a little more clarity and detail to the process that we have been walking through. I would like to journal some personal thoughts and accounts as well as to publish teachings, however I have been desirous to share these messages for 2010 with the prayer that the Lord would speak to you thorough them, and that those who read them may be strengthened and edified.
I believe that 2010 promises to be a hugely significant year .People will be realigned in Gods purposes,others will be restored from a Luke warm condition spiritually, so as they can run in the perfect will of God for their lives. Their is a shaking going on at an accelerated level so as believers we should not be surprised at what we see in the world right now,for this is the prelude to the release of the kingdom of God in greater power.
Over the last several months I have been reminded by the Lord of the urgency of taking a stand against fear in every form that it takes. The bible says that God has not given to us a spirit of fear but one of power and of love and of a sound mind(2 tim 1 v7) It also tells us that we have not been given a spirit that makes us a slave again to fear but we have received a spirit of adoption that cries out abba Father the Spirit of God bearing witness with our own spirits that we are the children of God(rom8,v15,16)
We must learn to divide and to distinguish between that which is of the soul and that which is of the spirit in our lives if we are walk in victory over fear .It is noteworthy how relatively few Christians have been taught to do this. There was even a highly visible evangelist who was once asked what the difference is between the soul and the spirit. He look slightly bemused and responded "I did not think that there was a difference"
Why is it so essential to distinguish between the spirit and the soul in overcoming fear? Because you and I can never fight fear and win by relying upon mental disciplines or will power only. Neither can we fight thoughts with other thoughts. We can only overcome fear by the word of God.
Fear you see is essentially a spiritual reality and has to be resisted in the spirit. What do I mean by that? Fear is one of Satan's choicest weapons to torment and intimidate the faith of a child of God.It is an evil spirit,it may be imperceptible to the natural eye but it is tangible. It can charge the atmosphere of a room,assail a soul to buffet it, and seek to tear out peace from the human heart,but thank God in Christ we have authority to drive out and keep out all fear from our lives. hallelujah!
I said that I believe that it is essential that we distinguish between that which is of the soul and that which is of the spirit in our lives and Hebrews chapter 4 v12 to 14 tells us how this is accomplished.
The word of God is living and powerfull or active sharper then any two edged sword piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit.So it is as we meditate upon Gods word that that work of separation is taking place in our lives. Remember that the Hebrew word for meditate is to mutter which indicates a vocal element being involved. Many people believe in silent meditation but that is often feeding the soul more than the spirit .By contrast the bible speaks of a muttering meditation,or as God said to Joshua "this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth,but you shall meditate on it day and night."josh 1,v8 Notice that the speaking was con joined to the meditating. I have learned several passages from the scripture that I can quote verbatim yet I have never attempted to memorize any of them. I simply repeated them out loud again and again and again until they got down into my heart,into my spirit where now they come out without my thinking.
I believe that some people worry about their memory or lack of, but if we would concentrate upon getting Gods word into our hearts then we would not need to try to think of the text because it would come naturally and spontaneously flowing out from within..Prov 4,20-22 speaks of giving attention to God word and keeping it in the centre of your heart.In the old testament the word heart was used synonymously with spirit. When people talk about the heart of the matter they mean of course the central issue or issues. Like wise when we speak of the heart of a tree we mean its core or centre. So when the bible speaks of the heart of man it is speaking of his core of his inwards parts or spirit. It is here that we inwardly feed upon Gods words and from here that faith in God is produced.
John wesley once said that the devil has counterfeited mental assent for true heart faith. It is in our spirits that we believe.Remember that jesus said in mark 11 22,24 that whoever says to this mountain be removed and be cast into the sea and shall not doubt in his heart but believes......
So faith is of the heart not essentially of the head.
Does this mean that our minds are unimportant to the Lord? Certainly not but what it means is that our minds need to be renewed by the word of God,and that the word of God is to be grafted into our souls. This is a work of cleansing and renewing and sanctification so that our minds can be used to the glory of God. After all jesus said that we are to love the Lord our God with all of our hearts and all of our souls and minds and all of our strenght,in other words with the totality of our being. But we do not look to our minds to give us mountain moving faith.That comes from the heart.
I have sat with men who had highly developed their minds and who gave great weight to the importance of "good biblical exegesis"yet I have seen in those circles a barrenness and a lack of the power of God or the presence of God. If all we seek to give priority too is the carefulness of our biblical expositions than we end up serving God primarily in our minds. Similarly I have seen great men of God who had little formal training or education,yet who possessed great faith in their hearts,a dauntless faith a mountain moving faith,and they raised up great works for God .I have learned that the quality of ones heart of our spirit before God is the most important thing.
Last year I experienced a test during which I had to overcome fear to a degree that I had to learn these things very rapidly and the things which I am sharing here are what got me out and gave me complete victory. At one point the oppression that came on me was so severe that my whole body shook uncontrollably. But when I learned to rise up in my spirit and to say "in the name of Jesus I command this spirit of fear to leave me,"I became free .Then as I began to feed my heart upon the word of God again and my spirit became stronger to rise up quickly when any fear would seek to subtly assail me, and to use the name of Jesus and the word of God to stand steadfastly against it,I have been walking free from fear .If you and I treat fear as something natural and normal than we will accommodate it,however if we see it as a deadly foe sent to rob us of our spiritual joy and peace than we can resist it every time.
Some people do not consider that they have a major problem with fear however they tolerate fears at a certain level a lot of the time.This can be just as destructive .Others believe that a little fear is healthy. Well then the bible would not command us not to fear. Yet others may point to Paul's words in 2 corn 7 v5where he spoke of having fears within. Does this not prove that he had fear they say? Billy Graham was once asked if he was ever tempted to doubt,yes he replied but I know what to do with the doubt when it comes . Paul was simply proving his humanness,but he also knew what to do with his fears . For he also wrote that we should not fret or be anxious for anything.He also wrote to timothy that God had not given him a spirit of fear .And he also wrote to the church at Rome that we are no more in bondage to fear .Now the apostle Paul practiced what he preached,and learned it no doubt as we all must in the nitty gritty of lifes challenges as he applied the truth which God had given him and walked in the light of it.
I believe that we must draw a line so to speak and declare a zero tolerance policy on all fear in our lives for God has given to us a covenant of his peace (isa54,10)and intends for us to abide in this all the days of our lives upon this earth.And how do we do this? by faith.
Every blessing to you all for 2010 and know that something good is going to happen to you in it.
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